Lankans were way ahead in all areas
By Sunil Gavaskar
Thursday, 05 August , 2004, 01:13
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Though India started as the favourites for the Asia Cup, especially after their
performances over the past few months, it was Sri Lanka who came into the tournament
as the only match-hardened team, having just played a two-Test series against the world
champions Australia.
All the other teams came into the tournament cold so to speak, as apart from the odd
player in their teams who may have been playing in the English County championships
or the leagues, just about everybody else was coming in from an off-season.
Sri Lanka looked supremely confident from the first game itself, which was not surprising
as they had thwarted Australia’s attempt to win both the Tests and their lower-order had
shown great resilience in doing that.
Having run the Australians close can give any team loads of confidence, as was seen
with the Indians earlier in the year, and Sri Lanka looked like winners. Their fielding was
agile, their running between the wickets was speedy and their fitness levels were above
every other team in the competition.
Sanath Jayasuriya struck form at the right time and with all others chipping in with
determined contributions, Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup to the great delight of their home
crowds.
Even in the aggression stakes, they were way ahead, as can
be seen by the fact that three of their players were fined by the Match Referee for ‘code of
conduct’ violations. That may not necessarily be a good thing but it showed how much
they wanted to win. They seem to have a good all-round side and if Nuwan Zoysa can
take a leaf out of Steve Harmison’s book and do the extra training, then he too can be the
new-ball bowler that openers are not too keen to face.
Harmison was known last year as the bowler who hardly completed a season without
being injured, and then he went and trained with a soccer team and look at him now. He
has played all the Tests and one-dayers without looking in any discomfort at all.
India looked rusty after the off-season but teams play so much today that they deserve
time off too. Trying to come back in hot, steamy conditions is not easy and it reflected in
the injuries that the team had. The major problem was that they did not get the kind of
flying start that is needed to take the game away from the opposition, and in the field and
running between the wickets, they lost out on valuable runs that can make the difference
between a win and loss in a close game.
The success of Sehwag and Tendulkar as bowlers has highlighted the need for utility
players, for it gives the team options.
By harping on the bonus points system, Pakistan is only bringing attention to its inability
to stop the Indians from denying them one and to the lack of communication in their
team. They should instead look at the wonderful batting of Shoaib Malik and his clever
bowling and see how he can develop into a formidable Test player as well.
Shabbir was also impressive and given the new ball, will be even more effective than
Akhtar, who can then concentrate on pace with a slightly older ball without having to worry
about wides in the limited-overs game.
Bangladesh were disappointing, especially after the way they had performed in the Tests
against the West Indies. They need to look at having specialists in their team for their
utility players are, to put it mildly, less than useful.
Hong Kong and UAE had their moments, and while UAE atleast have a local in their
team and certainly the enthusiasm, the Hong Kong team had no local and had players
with little future. They may have been better off with having some younger players who
could have benefited from the experience and thus put it to use in the next big
opportunity.
This edition of the Asia Cup was far too long and the organisers need to look at reducing
the dates as well as maintain continued interest in the tournament, for without that, there
will be less spectator and viewer-interest, which is not good if the intention is to
popularise the game in the region.
One may say that they are showing a flicker or two of their heady days in the mid 1990's ...... (Minus the big guns of course) .
