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Lankan tigers roar!

The first test match between India and Sri Lanka has been something that I was looking forward to due to the changes in umpiring rules. Though it was exciting to see that a couple of umpiring decisions were taken after referrals to third umpire, the whole match was pretty boring with the clueless Indians succumbing to a superior side that was brimming with confidence, skills and professionalism.

Ajanta Mendis, after his heroics in the Asia cup, led by the wizard of spin, gave no chance to the Indians to even put together a decent fight. If you consider the rain affected time, the Lankans managed to beat the Indian in roughly three days, a feat that Australia has been doing for a while.

Momentum favored Lanka

Following their Asia cup win, the Lankans really managed to maintain the momentum. The good thing with them was that the majority of their one-day players also figure in the test team and hence the momentum clearly favored them. The decision to debut Mendis was a great one and the youngster did not disappoint the selectors, his captain and his country men. The Indians on the other hand have been fielding a bunch of middle-aged men that have been lacking match practice and athleticism for a while now.

The Twenty20 hangover

The Indians (and their cricket body) are also not really getting out of their T20 mode yet. Though the side claimed to have the best test batsmen combination on earth, that was only on paper. Moreover, they lacked a game plan against the best spinning side in the world! There have been complaints that the placid pitch did not add to the spirit of the game, but that was only a lame excuse and the batting collapse cannot be forgiven.

In the meanwhile, the Indian cricket think tank is busy taking on ICL and the English Cricket board in order to secure more money via the T20 format for the future as well. They are also helping out Pakistan’s cause to make sure that the Champions trophy is played in the neighbor country. Among all these high profile agenda items, test cricket seems to be taking the backseat. The Sri Lankan board at the same time is reiterating the fact that they have a clear plan for the test cricket. Arjuna Ranatunga even made a statement that the Sri Lankan players should quit IPL 2009 in order to take part in the England tour completely. I liked that attitude of the Lankans.

I hope that in the coming matches, the Indians would regroup and adapt. As I mentioned in the last post, the ideal thing to do was not to play all five or six old men together but rest one at a time and rotate them with youngsters. The case is the same with the spin bowlers as well (even if it would mean that Kumble has to rest in a match). If not, the Indians can expect a 0-2 or even 0-3 loss at the hands of the Lankans.

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Does Bangladesh deserve to play test matches?

I just finished watching the record breaking opening stand of 415 runs between Graem Smith and Neil McKenzie during the second test between Bangladesh and S.Africa. The record definitely was a boon to Graem Smith who didn’t have a very good run in the recent past. And for a mediocre test cricketer like Neil McKenzie, a double ton – and only third century in 44 matches – assisted by poor bowling & fielding, pancake flat pitch and fast outfield was more than winning the super lotto!

Bangladesh had their downs and some ups in the limited over cricket arena. Their ex-couch, Dave Whatmore, groomed a better fielding side comprising of a bunch of aggressive youngsters with some batting and bowling abilities, during his stint as the national coach. His success as a coach included Bangladesh handing an unexpected blow to the Indian team during their first round exit from last world cup. However, what even Mr. Whatmore could not do is to turn around their fortunes in the longer format of the game.

Since Bangladesh got into the test playing nations’ league in 2000, they have played 53 matches and managed to win only one against an ever weakening Zimbabwe side. Not winning is still acceptable for a budding test side, but not having no more than five draws out of 50 plus matches shows how weak this test side is. Other teams like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe had put together a better show and steady improvement after they qualified to play test matches 15-20 years back. But Bangladesh doesn’t seem to get their act together at all despite having a couple of good bowlers and a good attacking batsman in the form of Mohammed Ashraful.

It is high time ICC looked into this matter and disqualified Bangladesh from playing test matches. Otherwise the Bangladesh board themself should step down from the league like the example set by Zimbabwe last year. The other option is to have two different test leagues. The first division league consisting of Australia, England, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and a second division league having Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya etc. As and when the quality of their cricket improves they can qualify to play the first division or premier league. If not, it will only help certain modern day batsmen to pile up records against weaker nations!