Within hours after West Indies cancelled their tour of India, negotiations started between Sri Lanka Cricket and Board of Control for Cricket in India to fill in the void created by the Caribbean side. It didn’t take much long for the Sri Lankans to confirm the tour and in return India agreed to make a visit to the island in 2015, a tour not on the Future Tour Programme. The 2015 series will no doubt financially assist the Sri Lankans board that has empty coffers. However, the hastily arranged tour of India has come at a cost.
During Sri Lanka’s home series against Pakistan and South Africa, one of the things that was highlighted was the home team’s fielding which looked below par. The fitness of several players was also a worry.
Some stalwarts noted that fielding and fitness were two key areas to be worked on ahead of the World Cup. With Marvan Atapattu taking over as Head Coach on a full time basis, the team launched on a rigorous fitness regime under former rugby star Chandrishan Perera.
The announcement of India series brought the fitness sessions to an abrupt end and the players started fine tuning their skills and work on match situations. A tweet by star batsman Kumar Sangakkara summed it up all.
“Our six weeks of pure fitness work ends abruptly. Have a week to do a month’s requirement of skill work. Planning ahead anyone?” The former captain said on twitter.
The players’ concern was not just the fitness work ending abruptly. They were also concerned about the time they had ahead of the Indian tour to work on their skills. Sri Lanka have had a torrid run against the Indians in limited overs cricket in recent years and they want to be well prepared for such a series rather than being called up on short notice.
The Sri Lankans have enough games ahead of the World Cup. They will host England in a seven match ODI series before travelling to New Zealand where they will play a further seven ODIs. The tour of New Zealand in particular is important as the country will host several of their World Cup games. The Indian series has now made it 19 ODIs ahead of the World Cup and observers believe that players could be jaded by the time the World Cup in February comes.
Some have argued otherwise. England are ranked number five in ODI cricket according to official rankings while New Zealand are ranked a lowly seventh. Rather than contests against teams with lower rankings, the Sri Lankans are better off playing a side that has a better ranking. India are third in rakings just below Australia and South Africa.
There were early indications from selectors that they might rest some of the seniors for the tour of India. But a Sri Lankan side without the stars wouldn’t have pleased their hosts and in the end, a full strength side was named for the first three ODIs. Only left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was rested while Lasith Malinga is injured.
All hope, however, is not lost for the Sri Lankans. There is talk that some key players will be rested for the home series against England. What the Indian series has done is to allow the selectors to take a further look at some of the young players who have been in and out of the side before they make a final call.
There’s this absurd argument that has been floated around. One official went on record saying that India were generous enough to send several of their players to Colombo ahead of the 1996 World Cup as some teams were going to pull out touring Sri Lanka due to security reasons. It is time that Sri Lankans helped out during India’s time of need, the official added.
Well, Pakistan too sent several of their players on that instance as a combined 11 consisting Indian and Pakistani cricketers led by Mohammad Azharuddin played an exhibition match in Colombo. Why hasn’t SLC bothered to help out Pakistan!
The Sri Lankans have an excellent record in ICC events. They reached the finals of the last two World Cups in Barbados and Mumbai and this time around, they don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the last two campaigns. Hence the meticulous planning ahead of the tournament that they won 18 years ago. Cricket’s showpiece event will also be the swansong of Sri Lanka’s Big Three – Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan. It is vital that these three stalwarts remain fresh and hungry for the challenge four months ahead as Sri Lanka’s fortunes depend heavily on their shoulders.
Religious ceremony invoking blessings on Martin Crowe
A group of Sri Lankans led by cheerleader Percy Abeysekara are organizing a religious ceremony to invoke blessings on Martin Crowe. The former New Zealand captain is being treated for lymphoma, a type of cancer that he was diagnosed with two years ago.
Crowe is a popular figure among Sri Lankans after he refused to abandon New Zealand’s tour of the island in 1992. A suicide bomber killed Sri Lanka’s Navy Commander in front of New Zealand’s team hotel in Colombo and despite several Kiwis heading back home, Crowe stayed back.
Announcing the religious ceremony, Percy said, “I crow, you crow and we all crow for Martin Crowe.”
