Persevering with Mubarak cost the cup

By Helasingha Bandara

(June 24, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is hard to believe that no one from the team, selectors, advisers, media or fans suggested that it is against all accepted game strategies to hope for a team to win with four batsmen, in any form of the game at any level, let alone the World Cup final. It was very clear from the beginning of the tournament that the totals that Sri Lanka team were putting on the board were20 to 30 runs short in most matches because mostly two batsmen out of the four performed reasonably well on the day.

In all probabilities two out of four could fail and this happened at almost all matches. If the team management had bit more intelligence they could think what if three fails. In Cricket, three out of four failing to perform well is not uncommon at all. In the world cup final in 1996 if Sanath and Kalu failed the team had Gurusingha, followed by Aravinda, Arjuna, Thilakarathna and Mahanama, five other established, steady and technically correct batsmen. After the first four who the team had this time, Mubarak, Silva and Udana! What a contrast!

If the selectors banked on Mubarak to be the sixth batsman it was a cardinal sin. Instead of giving the viewers the statistics and achievements of Muba’s international cricketing career All TV commentators announced that he was born in Washington DC and his father was a scientist. Neither of those facts should qualify Muba to be in Sri Lanka Cricket team, but again Sri Lanka is one place in which most improbable things happen. He had no talent, no technique and it could have been even better if they played a boy from the Elle team from the village who could have better eye ball coordination.

Chamara Silva and Isuru Undana simply do not know how to bat. It was clear contrast from the moment Angelo Mathews came to the crease. He could have got out in the same fashion as the others. Yet the spectators saw it very clearly that he has learnt to bat. As people say it is not rocket science to differentiate between one who does not know how to handle the bat and one who does. Muba cannot be considered a professional cricketer but a random (very random) lucky slogger. Silva has to show significance increase in his repertoire of shots to occupy the place of the fifth batsman. It is incomprehensible to me why on earth Isuru Udana was played while Maharoof and Thilina Thushara were sitting in the dugout. This is without going beyond the selected team. Warnapura, Kapugedara and even Upul Tharanga could have been greater choices against Mubarak, Undana and Silva.

The burden of failure heavily lies on the shoulders of the selectors who arrogantly persevered with Mubarak in particular and lost the cup for Sri Lanka . They may have had hopes that Silva would perform some time. When he failed to deliver in five matches the selectors could lose confidence and hope. Surprisingly they did not. Having all that said both Jayawardana and Dilshan could have thought slightly more of the opponents who could place fielders to counter their innovative shots that have become common knowledge among the cricketing circles by then. Both of them papered blind when they played fatal shots. Sanath welcome you for ever! He was unlucky to drag it onto the stumps. Bad luck for Sri Lanka.

-Sri Lanka Guardian