Sanga rides back in style

After some continuous hiccups that had tainted his captaincy record that had seen Sri Lanka slip in international ODI standings, Kumar Sangakkara rode back in style to make it his day on Bangladeshi soil. Crowning himself in the glory of the trophy glitter as winners of the Tri Nation Tournament at the expense of arch rivals India is the lusty blow Sangakkara has struck for Sri Lanka cricket; it being sweeter in denting an Indian image that had of late begun to soar in taking the world No.2 position behind Australia.
If the comfortable 4-wicket triumph over India in the final last Wednesday marked a welcome return to winning ways as far as tournaments go, the outcome held out so many positives for the Lankan captain. Both as a team man and at personal level it not only Sangakkara revived a staggering career by that achievement. It also brought out the collective aspect of the team effort from his positive batting, wicket-keeping and captaincy that earned him the ‘Man of the Series’ award.
Above all, what must specifically rhyme in is Sangakkara’s consistent contribution with the bat. Time and again when the ship was going off the radar to Sangakkara’s credit had been that his batsmanship had been unwavering. In defeat too the captain had stood on the burning deck with some noteworthy batting displays. Perhaps, if to be faulted being his inability to translate the half centuries into three figures; an area in which the Lankan skipper needs to sharpen with the discipline of shedding the impetuousness that has time and again undone brilliance.
Analytically, this bagful of small mercies in several bouts of ODI contests with India, all of which but the Champions Trophy, Dhoni’s charges had hitherto won omens well for Sri Lanka. That is when one looks some 14 calendar months ahead to the cricket World Cup in familiar sub continent terrain. For importantly, this time around it was a mixture of experience and young blood delivering the goods. If Tillekeratne Dilshan, Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene, who joined the squad for the third match as an injury replacement, ably measured in experience, the young brigade of so many eager hands also made satisfactory contributions. Welagedera continued the fine form shown in India on Bangladesh pitches too. His three wickets in the final in breaking the back of the Indian batting in the final along with Nuwan Kulasekera’s four scalps struck a chord for the pace bowling department; that the search after Chaminda Vaas for a permanent pair of opening bowlers has at last been settled. The Kulasekera-Welagedera combination has shown the type of penetration, swing and fire to carry that area on their shoulders. It is now the third pacie that has to be decided in the world cup build. The return of Thilina Thushara after an injury lay off for this tournament as the third bowler was interesting. Of course, with the return from injury of allrounder Angelo Mathews Sri Lanka would have a fourth. It will be interesting to watch the development of Thissara Perera who is capable of contributing with the bat down the order as he proved in India and Bangladesh. It was Perera who joined Jayawardene to give the finishing touches in the final when Sri Lanka needed some 20 odd runs in an even number of balls.
Off spinner Suraj Randiv too made his presence felt. His bowling has been fairly consistent in containing batsmen while he also showed his allround prowess chipping in with 17 in the wake of a fine half century in a previous match.
In grooming youngsters, the captain and the team management as well as the selectors however, need to take note of not bungling by wrong decisions. For instance a middle order batsman should not be rushed in to open the innings as was seen in the case of Lahiru Thirimanna in a match against Bangladesh instead of playing Mahela Udawatte who was the stand by opener.
Thirimanna has had a good run at youth level internationally and at domestic level as a middle order batsman and needs to be groomed accordingly in the middle order when the occasion demands.
All in all, this last voyage has seen the process of rebuilding on the right track.