Sri Lanka.
Not a happy place to be at present. Not exactly a paradise. A war zone, in fact. There are tears all around. Its not just sweat.
Doesn’t it feel like a grim place for now?
You don’t need to be a Boycott or Benaud to decode why.
India were here.
And, Virat Kohli’s India, truth be told. There was battering that followed. Not for a game or two.
Rather, for a series featuring 5 ODIs.
The Tests? Lets leave that one out shall we? None saw what was coming.
Did you?
Did the Sanga’s or Mahela’s of the world?
Wait. Capitulation wasn’t even supposed to be the theme of the series.
Fans point to the following reasons
Maybe, there was Kohli’s blade, above temper?
Maybe it was Rohit?
Or maybe, something else.
The runs were leaking, wickets were tumbling. Cricket produced a poetry of mayhem.
Here’s ample proof as to why none of it augured well for Sri Lanka
They say a team is a lion at home. Thankfully for Sri Lanka, they weren’t hosted by India.
England know the scars. So do New Zealand. Remember
Luckily, minnows like West Indies haven’t traveled to the sub-continent.
Anyway, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Kohli in form. It might take Sri Lanka months together to let go of what that familiar MRF blade left behind.
An unbeaten 82 of 70, 131 of 96 and, 110 of 116.
But it wasn’t Kohli alone
Rohit Sharma, making a comeback to a spot often filled by KL Rahul- when the Bangalore-born is not unwell- made the series count.
And, made sure Sri Lanka regret. Here’s what Rohit managed from his ODI outings. 4, followed by 54, followed by, 124, followed by 104 and, 16.
You felt bad for the Lankan bowlers. 302 runs were struck by Sharma alone.
Fellow destructor-in-chief, rather, tyrant Dhawan chipped in. He was to Sri Lanka what Gabbar had been in celebrated Bollywood-epic Sholay
Although, Dhawan couldn’t manage more than that epic 132 in the 1st ODI.
But, he had already stamped his authority in the series courtesy the twin-blitzkriegs: 119 at Pallakele and 190 at Galle.
He wasn’t particularly dislodged from the middle. His concentration span often undid him. Did it not?
But Sri Lanka would want to focus on something else too
In a series where we saw India dominate from the word go, it was spiteful to see the absolute lack of fight that Sri Lanka garnered, save the rain-affected 2nd ODI.
Would you have guessed that modern-day stars like Malinga and Dickwella would manage what they did?
There are nightmares. Then, there are peril nightmares and then, there’s Lasith Malinga’s slingers. But it just didn’t matter to India.
8-52- 0 wickets. 8- 49-0. 10-82-1. Is that really Malinga, the bloke who the ICC have always been kind to in agreeing to that action?
You don’t expect the leader of a pace attack, how else would you describe Mumbai Indians’ son to emerge with 3 wickets from 5 ODIs? Do you?
Thankfully, in Dhananjaya Akila, there’s a bright star in the horizon.
Look what the nimble-looking youth did.
9 of his 14 ODI wickets came against India. In fact, he picked up a 6-for against Kohli’s men.
Sri Lanka would reward him well by feeding him to the likes of Faf’s South Africa and Kane’s able New Zealand when they play them next.
By the time the series would be complete, we would’ve seen more scalps added to Akila’s tally.
But there was another man who held on to his own against the butchering India extended to Sri Lanka.
Former captain and now, someone who, one reckons, might benefit from running a few extra rounds on the treadmill: Angelo Mathews.
Mathews didn’t give in.
He hung in there.
Being denied a full quota of 10-overs that might’ve been useful on those slower Lankan pitches didn’t seem to upset Mathews who fought with a 1st game’s 36 of 50 and, later compiled a handy 55 in the final game.
But here’s what needs immediate attention
Now that Sri Lanka have thanked their stars for finding a spot in 2019 World Cup, the time’s just right for contemplation.
In Dickwella they have a batsman who can do more than just hold a bat. He showcased some of that power in ICC Champion’s Trophy, 2017.
Remember, India were humbled by Lanka then.
In, Lahiru Thirimanne, someone with 100+ ODI caps, Sri Lanka have a buoyant bat at the top order. However, he might want to up that scoring rate of his.
Not that Tharanga would mind. He would, although, depend on guys like Thisara Perera to work up some wonders. And, that’s something a side that’s produced men of the rigour and stoicism of Sanga and Mahela are ought to do.
