Blow hot, blow cold Sri Lanka dumped from Nidahas Trophy – India and Bangladesh meet in Colombo final BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE
Tensions simmer between Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi players in Colombo
Bangladeshi cricketers infuriate Sri Lankans with their ‘snake dance’ as they storm into the final in Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s euphoria after their Bangladesh triumph has evaporated as quickly as it hit them on their return home when they were dispatched in emphatic fashion from final of the Nidahas Trophy T20 triangular by India and Bangladesh in Colombo.
All the excitement and hype surrounding their success in Bangladesh was soon put in perspective by the ‘monster’ created by Sri Lanka’s new coach Chandika Hathurusinghe whose former chargers refused to be pushed down from the status he took them to after his departure.
Bangladesh have blossomed as a force in world cricket thanks to the guidance of many Sri Lankans during their infancy.
But that romance has since died after Sri Lanka’s recent tour to Bangladesh where tensions rose, and a new Asian rivalry formed on the back of an unhappy coach who left them due to some reported backbiting by a few disgruntled Bangladesh players.
While Hathurusinghe’s distraction appears to be his former team, he should have paid more attention to his current chargers and mainly on their batting consistency which evidently deserted them in a riveting final encounter between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to decide on who plays India in the final.
Tensions arose when Sri Lankan players uncharacteristically became physical against a Bangladesh substitute performing water boy duties and things became heated to a point where Bangladesh unknowingly nearly forfeited the game by attempting to stage a walkout in protest. These are scenes unfamiliar in Sr Lanka’s short cricket past at Test level and hopefully never repeated if the true spirit of the game is to be upheld.
The push and shove, as well as the umpire’s refusal to award a no-ball, then tipped Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan into a fury. Shakib, along with several team-mates, immediately rushed to the edge of the boundary, where he entered into a heated exchange with reserve umpire Lyndon Hannibal. Shakib then beckoned Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain off the field, luckily for them the batsmen appeared very reluctant to follow those instructions, and ambled half-heartedly towards the boundary as many of the Sri Lanka fielders looked on. Eventually sanity prevailed and Shakib relented and play resumed after the fracas had delayed it by several minutes.
Sri Lanka have only themselves to blame for their complacency obviously resting on the laurels of an away triumph against the same team. The lessons learnt from their setback is that there are no handouts given for lack of application as the batting by their mainstays clearly suggested.
While India and Bangladesh battle for top honours in Colombo, its back to the drawing board for the emerging Sri Lankans who will get better with experience and consistency.
Their next assignment against the West Indies for a three-Test series in May followed by the acid test against top notch South Africa in July at home could be the indicator of how they handle their destiny.
