India complete Sri Lanka humiliation with little effort – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE
India’s second string completed their humiliation of a sub standard Sri Lanka with a T20 thrashing to underlined the difference between the best and the rest.
My meanderings about behind the scenes activity relating to India’s team selection for this series proved to be unfounded as the hosts drove home a point as to why they did not need stars to beat teams like Sri Lanka. India took the T20 series 2-1 with a 91 run win in the decider.
It says a lot about Sri Lanka’s development, or lack of it, as they stumble and stagger like a drunken sailor valiantly striving to negotiate the path ahead of them.
It was just a few months ago that this same team gloated about winning the Asia Cup. They are now scratching their heads trying to figure out when the next win will come.
Winning one out of three against a second string India is a case in point of their drifting hopelessness out at sea and and unable to sight the shore.
While some experts plant the blame firmly on the head of skipper Dasun Shanaka, they fail to see the bigger picture where the batting in particular leaves much to be desired. Shanaka cannot be blamed for the lack of support surrounding him. He has led by example on this tour individually, but cannot carry the rest of the team.
Sri Lanka’s performance since the Asia Cup has been dismal to say the least in terms of consistency and little has been done to remedy it. Yes, there has to be continuity to establish form. But how long and how many chances must a player get to prove they have what it takes to make the cut.?
Sri Lanka doesn’t have a world class bowling attack, but it is not the worst attack in the world either.
At full strength, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Wanindu Hasarsnga De Silva and Maheesh Theeksheena rank pretty high among men of their craft. But all the work they do gets undone by a brittle batting line-up that crumbles when they are expected to deliver.
All indications point to lack of discipline and mental preparation and in this respect it points inward to the mentoring and support within.
Obviously there won’t be any positives to take from the last contest.
Suriyakumar Yadav blasted a hurricane 112 off 51 balls and Shubman Gill 46 off 36 to give India an insurmountable 228 target which Sr Lanka were never in the hunt to chase down.
Only three batters managed 20 plus runs in a pathetic run chase to underline Sri Lanka’s batting inconsistency.
So where to from here for for Sri Lanka cricket in 2023 is anyone’s guess.
