Sri Lankan batsmen let down the team

The Sri Lankan cricketers were made to eat humble pie after suffering a seven wicket bashing by the England cricket team in the first test of the ICC test championship at Galle Cricket Stadium yesterday.

After a series whitewash in South Africa, the much anticipated Lankan camp led by the stand in skipper Dinesh Chandimal were offered a track conducive for their players, where they were completely outplayed by the rivals in all departments.

After winning the all-important toss in an ideal condition to play the game of cricket, the Lankan batsmen put up a pathetic performance without any responsibility, which ultimately saw them suffering their third defeat in a row. Had they set a target of over 150 runs to Englishmen, the pendulum would have swung in their favour placing them in a better position of securing the much needed win.

The Lankan batsmen especially Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Dasun Shanaka who were chosen as specialized batsmen for this match put up a dismal performance. Mendis who is going through a lean period should have been kept away instead of forcing him to a suicidal mission, when the chips are really down. The cricket loving public in the country are shocked at certain decisions taken by the team management, which backfired on them

After the pull out of the regular skipper Dimuth Karunaratne due to a fractured thumb in the concluded Protes tour at the eleventh hour. they should have opted to appoint the most senior player Angelo Mathews, who has vast experience and the knowledge of the game as the skipper of the team instead of Chandimal, whose attacking approach and the strategic play was not up to expectations. The much anticipated contribution from Mendis, Chandimal, Dickwella and Shanaka wasn’t there. Test cricket is all about execution, devotion and dedication by the players which the Lankan batters failed to comply. Dickwella, one of the experienced campaigners in the team once again sacrificed his wicket playing a rash shot at a delivery which he could have left alone. The rival bowlers have identified his weakness and attacked him to force him to play shots just outside the off stump. Dickwella mostly passes the initial tough passage of play but fails to build on to play the much needed big innings. Nevertheless, he is yet to score his maiden century in his career and was pretty confident of scoring his maiden ton at this match which he disclosed at a Pre-match briefing held on the Zoom technology.

Subsequently, all these senior players have let down the team and the country badly where the the game at present is in a chaotic situation. It is high time the team management pull up their socks and replace these players who have failed continuously rather than destroying their careers by playing them again mainly when the confidence levels are low.

Earlier before this series the team management included right hand opening batsman Oshada Fernando to the 22-member squad citing that he will be fit for the tour opener but he was in the injured players list and one wonders why the team management is retaining him instead of sidelining him and including a few players likes Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Udara who are knocking at the doors for selection after a successful domestic season. One might argue that these players have insufficient experience at the international level and if that’s so when will they be exposed at this level. If at all then the so called big names can continue to fail and the game will continue deteriorating further plunging down to the bottom of the ICC test Championship table.

The Cricket loving public in the country expects that Sri Lanka Cricket(SLC) which pays these players thumping amounts will look into the performance of the players and the team and conduct a serious investigation as to how to rejuvenate the team.