Sangakkara’s captaincy mission about to begin

by Trevor Chesterfield

Amid the mental turmoil for some still surrounding Sri Lanka’s last tour abroad, new captain Kumar Sangakkara has a new mission.

sangakkara

As the islanders step foot in England and prepare for the ICC World Twenty/20 tournament, Sangakkara brings with him a dynamism that surrounds his style of game and thinking. He is also a realist and knows the challenges the side face in a competitive series as this one.

While several Sri Lankans in the side now in England played in recent Indian Premier League in South Africa, only two made an impact: all-rounder Tillekeratne Dilshan and fast bowler Lasith Malinga, the remainder, even Sangakkara and the erstwhile captain Mahela Jayawardene did not have a memorable IPL.

Yet, despite such disappointments and local talent such as Angelo Mathews with only one appearance, and Ajantha Mendis who had a disastrous IPL tournament, Sangakkara admits he is quite excited about leading the side on his first excursion as captain. It is understandable as well as the side needs to think ahead, for after the tournament in England is a stepping stone to looming Test series against Pakistan later in June and New Zealand later in the year.

How seriously do you take T20 performances and statistics, even in such a competitive environment as the IPL? It depends on consistency more than putting together a couple of average innings. Sangakkara, scored 332 runs at 30.18, his pal Jayawardene managed 221 at 36.50 boosted with undefeated innings, while veteran Sanath Jayasuriya disappointed his fans and himself with only 221 runs at 18.41. He would tell you how eager he is to shake off the IPL safari dust and settle into displaying form that is in keeping with his flamboyant image.

At the other end of the batting list is Dilshan’s efforts that earned him 418 runs at 41.80 average, and a top score of 67 not out. In a five week tournament where there were only two centuries scored and the average individual innings worked out to about 48 runs, the Dilshan performance is a good one. Sustaining it in England is another matter.

The same could be said for Lasith Malinga, one of the IPL leading wicket takers with 18 at 17.33 and the ever consistent Muttiah Muralitharan (14 wickets at 18.64). What you look for though is economy rate: Malinga had 6.30 and Murali an impressive 5.22. At the other end of the scale there is so-called mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis who wasn’t a mystery at all; three wickets at 39.90 and an economy rate of 7.31 doesn’t’ tell you much other than he didn’t bowl spin at all on the South African surfaces.

Mathews, like Mendis, played for the Kolkata Knight Riders and his one game is hardly a glowing report, but what can you tell from just one game? He was brought on at the death and in 14 balls (2.2 overs) went for 31 runs. It was carnage and he had no idea what to bowl. Having sat out most games of the series, it was noticeable how Brendon McCullumn, the Knight Riders captain had no idea at all where to slot Mathews into the bowling attack.

You cannot blame McCullumn for the Mathews debacle but the team selection policy. When you have someone experienced such as Charl Langeveldt in the squad and throw in a rookie like Mathews in a must-win game, you realise why the Knight Riders were a lost cause this year.

This explains why Sri Lanka and their new captain have a major role to play at such a high-octane level of the game to sort out the areas where the players are best suited to Sri Lanka’s gameplan. Players such as Mathews and Mendis will need attention.

Yet when it comes to going on tour for the first time, Sangakkara is not keen to talk about Lahore, March 3 2009 or any immediate post terror attack events.

“I know for some it is hard to move on from that, but we are on a new tour with fresh ideas and quite frankly need to think ahead and be positive,” he said before the team left for England.

“Naturally I am pretty excited to lead a great team,” he admitted. “Since I was selected in this side there have been captains there who have helped: Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu. They have done a great job to bring the team to where it is. Now it is up to me to take the team to the next level.

“In this (ICC Twenty20) series there is no doubt we are in a tough group,” he acknowledged. “If you hope to win a tournament you have to beat the best and that is the challenge we face. Hopefully we will walk away with a win.

“Since the advent of this format my appreciation for Test cricket has grown a lot. At the end of this England tour, I will want to walk away wanting to figure in a Test series. At the end of the dat it is the greatest test of your skills, endurance, technique and every other aspect of the game.

“Players, cricketers’ associations and boards have a major responsibility to strike a balance between the two. With T20 you see old spectators and you see new spectators coming into the game. We have to ensure that Test cricket remains number one.

“I don’t think players need to choose one format and disregard the other two,” he commented. “I believe how good players can adjust.

“These are certainly exciting times for the game and you have tp act responsibly. Also you get a place in history in Test cricket and I don’t think anyone will question that,” he added.

He agreed that hosting the tournament in England in June could give the bowlers an advantage. He also feels how this will also make the games more interesting as with the ODI format, T20 is essentially a batsman’s game.

“If the surfaces are good it will create an interesting tournament,” he nodded. “The IPL (in South Africa) was good because it evened matters out between bowlers and batsmen. Everyone had an opportunity in (this year’s) IPL. For me there is no point watching the batsmen dominating and the bowlers being thrashed out of sight.”

Sri Lanka will be based in Nottingham and the first tournament game is June 8 against Australia at Trent Bridge and West Indies on June 10. The plan is to first qualify for the super eights and then plan for the next phase.

“The history of Trent Bridge tells you that there will be bounce and turn,” he recalled. “When we played a Test there three years ago it was won by our spinners playing a major part with Murali taking eight wickets in the second innings. At this time of their summer, I think it will be more helpful for spin bowlers compared to other pitches.”

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