by Sa’adi Thawfeeq
(October 18, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes the kind of energy, enthusiasm and never-say-die attitude that spin legend Muthiah Muralitharan brings to the team are vital ingredients if Sri Lanka is to make an impact at the 2011 World Cup. Muralitharan retired from Test cricket as the game’s highest wicket-taker but is available for the 2011 World Cup and Twenty20 matches. He has been included for the short tour of Australia where Sri Lanka is due to play three one-day internationals in addition to a one-off Twenty20 international.
In a frank interview with The Nation, the Sri Lankan captain talks of the effect a cricketer like Muralitharan can have on the team, the openers berth for the World Cup, the grey areas where Sri Lanka need to improve, the continuous selection of Chamara Kapugedera despite moderate returns, the improvements that have taken place during his one and a half year tenure as captain, on accusations of match fixing and misbehaviour by some of his team members and how it effects team performances etc, etc.
Q: What changes do you see have taken place in the Sri Lanka team under your leadership in the past 18 months?
KS: The biggest change for us has been that we’ve learnt to rely on the teams and the players that are there for us. We don’t have the Vaasys, the Jayasuriyas, the Muralis (who is available only in one-day cricket) and impact players like Ajantha Mendis and others who are going through different stages in their makeup. It’s been a great challenge to see whether we could go from where we were with a new team losing some of the most experienced legends of the game not just Sri Lanka wise but worldwide and still be a performing and winning side. That selfbelief we’ve earned over the last 1 ½ years.
We learnt to understand that cricket doesn’t stop for you. If you don’t change with the sport, don’t keep improving, don’t keep exposing players who can handle these situations and who are skilful and able you are left behind. Over the last 1 ½ years we have managed to expose a series of not just younger players in the early 20s but also in the late 20s and maybe even beyond because we have tried to give everyone who is performing an opportunity. We can’t play the same brand of cricket we played a year and a half ago. We’ve got to keep changing the way we play even in Test cricket.
We may have to play on greener, faster and moving tracks with the bowling attacks we’ll have in a few months time. We’ve got to keep evolving and that mindset has to be there. At the same time we got to accept reality and say these are the players we have, they are the best not just for us but to win matches against any opposition. That kind of confidence rubs off on performance.
Q: Is your openers slot for the World Cup sorted out?
KS: At this moment yes. (Tillakaratne) Dilshan is our best opener by far without a doubt. His performances over the last year and half have shown how key a player he is for us not just batting wise but also the energy he brings to the side with his off-breaks everything. He’s a very important part of our makeup. Upul Tharanga is one of those rare left-handers who can win you games. But he must make sure that when he goes out and scores he does that on a consistent basis. He has the ability to become one of our better batsmen in Sri Lanka if not one of the best.
Tharanga Paranavitana has done excellently in the ‘A’ team games. He got two games after a long time and he scored two 100s against South Africa ‘A’. There are people who are there in the side and people who are there if the need arises for replacement not just for the opening slot but all along.
There is Dinesh Chandimal who’s been doing very well for us. Jeevan Mendis, Chamara Silva after a couple of years is battin g so well for us, and (Thilina) Kandamby and Thilan Samaraweera waiting in the wings. For each slot basically we now have very able replacements. If players we think are important get injured we still have equal replacements to come in. There is no such thing as ‘oh my god, someone is injured and what are we going to do?’ It’s a case of someone is injured well okay we have another player who comes in and takes up that mantle and does equally well.
Q: In what position would you like to have Mahela Jayawardene batting?
KS: Mahela is a unique case. He is probably the only batsman in our side who is capable of batting anywhere. He can bat up the order because he is technically very correct he’s got the touch and the power to exploit any situation in the game. Whenever he has opened he has scored valuable runs for us and whenever he’s batted in the middle he’s been very successful. As a side when we have Dilshan and Upul and maybe Para to come in, Mahela’s role at no. 4 becomes very vital because he is the guy who holds the front and the back.
At the same time you can’t put too much pressure on Mahela just to be the one guy who holds both sides together he should be able to go out there and bat freely without thinking about the wickets that have fallen before him and thinking of batsmen who are to come. That’s a case in point for all the batsmen in the side. When we bat we got a specific role to play, whatever happens at the other end we’ve got to keep executing our role.
If you get carried away with wickets on the other end and you put too much pressure on yourself that affects our game as well. In that sense players have to learn to become more task aware, more selfish not to worry about the other player because the other player is there in the side because he is as good enough as you are to execute those roles.
That’s something we’ve spoken about. Mahela in the middle is important but if the occasion calls for it he can easily go up the order. The key with a player like Mahela is he’s got to feel he is challenged all the time. He enjoys challenges. He is such a top class premium batsman that it is important that wherever he bats he also has the confidence in the team to back him up with the support he needs.
Q: What about the other batting positions have they been finalised?
KS: Bating position allocations are important to allow for people to understand their roles but at the same time how they can own those positions is on performance. There is no other way you can say that ‘I am batting here’ unless you are performing in that place. In return it is important the team management informs that player ‘this is where you are batting and this is what we expect from you for the team’. In one-day cricket each position is unique and important, the lower down the batting you go the challenges become very different especially 5, 6 and 7 are batsmen who have to adapt to various situations. At the same time again you have to pick the best guys who can execute those jobs in whatever situations we face. We have that make up in our side. Guys like Kandamby and Samaraweera are immensely experienced, very capable and brilliant batsmen. They are also pushing to get into the side.
Q: Is the injury to all-rounder Angelo Mathews a concern and does it alter team plans whenever he cannot bowl?
KS: Angelo’s a guy who gets stiff on and off but his workload has to be managed. He is a very important player for us. He has performed excellently for us and he balances the side perfectly. It’s not easy for a young guy to have such a large bowling load as well. That’s something he has to get stronger and fitter like everyone else and try to manage that load. He will as the years go by but we must make sure that he does enough work to stay strong and listen to the physio and the trainer when it comes to managing not just him but all our players. Angelo doesn’t get serious injuries. Once in a while he might miss a game due to an injury but other than that he’s been one of the hardest working players in our side. He is very conscientious of everything he does and that’s a great plus for us to have because he’s a very young player.
A guy like Mathews has a great advantage he is a very good batsman, a great bowler and the combination allows him to when one fails to contribute w ith the other. We look forward to having him in our side in whatever capacity because I think he’s a very important player now and in the years to come. Having said that if a player gets injured you must have some form of an idea of a replacement or a combination in your 15 that allows you to play depending on the severity of the injury. We must have players in the side to immediately replace and also players in the replacement as standbys who can easily step in and take over. Looking at our squad make up we are covered.
Q: The return of Muthiah Muralitharan to the side, what effect does it have?
KS: It gives us a huge boost. There is no substitute for Murali. To have him back in our one day side gives us a lot of strength. We saw what he did in the last Test that he played, the amount of fire and enthusiasm he has, the challenge he took to take eight wickets. That kind of attitude in a side does wonders. He is the best team man that I have played with. He has no ego, he is always team first and him second. To have that kind of person in the side helps us to bond together, helps everyone communicate better and also lifts us as a team.
To make any impact in the World Cup or any tournament for that matter that kind of energy, enthusiasm, never-say-die attitude is vital. We have a lot of players who have those special characteristics, there’s Murali, Dilshan who’s got a great attitude, Mahela, Kapu (Kapugedera), (Suraj) Randiv, (Lasith) Malinga, (Nuwan) Kulasekara. You take our entire team whenever they are challenged they always try and rise to meet the challenge which is the way we want them to be.
But at the same time whatever we do we got to be controlled if we are not, we can end up making mistakes. If we are proactive to a situation it must be in a manner that we can control and that enables us to exploit all the advantages in that situation. What players bring into the dressing room apart from their skill is always very vital. It’s a team sport and what one does affects 14 other people. You must have that good balance of respecting individuality.
Q: What are the grey areas that need to be improved?
KS: Number one our chasing ability has to be to fine-tuned and honed so that whether its 200 or 300 runs we have a process in place that allows us to chase these totals down consistently. Even setting a total is similar in a way but the pressures are different. Our fielding and our bowling to set plans and set fields and especially to understand at what time to try and take wickets and what time to try and stop runs. Those few little minute details that we think so small can be game breakers. We got to do all our skill work and at the same time how we think about executing that skill is also important.
Q: Is the absence of big hitters down the order and players who can finish off games a worry?
KS: We are not going to have these huge power hitters which some other sides might have but that doesn’t mean we are any worse off. We have Kapu (Kapugedera) who can hit the ball as far as anyone, Mathews is another, Jeevan Mendis is small but he is very powerful, Dinesh Chandimal for his size the distance he hits the ball is fantastic.
We have different players for different roles and we can go about in a different manner and achieve the same things other sides have achieved in their own way. I don’t think it’s anything for us to worry about. The important thing is we have been doing well in over the last 1½ years is because of our bowling unit. They are second to none in the world. They are far better as individuals and as a group and than any bowling attack I have seen in a long time. It’s been our biggest advantage.
Q: The continuous selection of Chamara Kapugedara despite his moderate returns has come for a lot of criticism. Your thoughts on it?
KS: What Kapu brings to the side is his energy. His fielding performances, those half chances that he takes once in a while that changes games, Sehwag’s run out (in Micromax final at Dambulla) was a game breaker in my view, and also his ability with the bat although sometimes we think that he hasn’t delivered. We still see in him not only in potential and talent but ability that can win us games.
We are looking for him to keep on stepping up his game and performing to the levels we know he can. Some players will get more opportunities than others. Unfortunately cricket is not always 100 percent fair because at the end of the day only a limited number can be selected. We got to try and pick a combination that offers us what we are looking for. Kapu has a lot to offer us. He has to keep performing and cement his place in the side. It’s a challenge he can achieve. It goes for all the other batsmen in the side as well for after a long time we are getting a good crop of able batsmen.
Everyone’s got to keep pushing themselves to get better. Kapu has the ability to go beyond all of us and to become a high impact player who can change games in any format of cricket. But for him to do that he has to also understand his own game which allows him to then improve himself to get better. But we trust him and we know that he will deliver when the occasion rises for us.
Q: Does accusations of match fixing and misbehaviour by players on tour affect the team overall?
KS: It always affects the team. How much we say ‘no’ it does. At the end of the day players have to be responsible as individuals not to do anything that harms the group and also the reputation of Sri Lanka as a country or us as a team. That’s a grave responsibility. If you are playing at this level you should be able to carry that responsibility otherwise skill alone is not going to make you a great cricketer.
It’s a complete package. Players have to take on responsibility with pride when they walk onto the field as ambassadors for our country. They must understand the support and love our people have for us and respect that. It’s not always about us because great players come and go but the game has always moved on. The Bradmans, the Sobers they’ve come and gone and cricket is still strong. It is the greatest game to play.
When there are incidents or reports the Cricket Board always looks into those allegations. If there is anything of concern the Cricket Board works very closely with the ICC. If they come back to the Board and say ‘we have concerns’ I am sure the Cricket Board will take action. We expect that as a team. For us the integrity and image of the team is important, it is as important as going out there and winning. To win you need to have players who are contended to each other, committed to the side and to the country and discipline. There is no substitute for discipline. Whenever we have any question marks we have processes in the team that can deal with it. If it’s any serious offence we have processes in the Cricket Board that can deal with it. It’s the responsibility of everyone that we don’t put ourselves in vulnerable situations.
Q: In situations like this what role do you play as captain?
KS: I make sure that the way we play the game is an example to the rest. How we talk to the younger players, what we talk about in the team and how we project ourselves from the field to the public eye has to be always at the highest level. We must keep pushing to get better at everything we do. That kind of culture once you build it up in the dressing room it takes hold and people will get used to that.
Playing cricket for your country is something money cannot buy. It is a privilege it is an honour and you should never abuse that. At the same time the feeling of going out there and winning with your team and for the country especially a tournament final there is no feeling like that. You get your match fee whether you win or lose but that feeling of owning a victory very few people can lay claim to that. We have opportunities every time we play to taste that victory. We should be able to go out there and do that with pride. I definitely think our team has that.
(Courtesy: The Nation)
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