July 27, 2009

Sangakkara’s negative mindset denies his team clean sweep

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By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The decision of the Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara to go off the field when at a striking distance to complete a rare clean sweep in the Test series looked mind-boggling to say the least. It were the Pakistanis who were on the defensive on the fifth and final day of the third Test and they must have heaved a sign of relief at having avoided an embarrassment.

The Sri Lankans needed less than run a ball going into the last 20 overs. With six wickets in hand and two well set batsmen at the crease the platform was set for the home side to complete their third successive win in the Test series.

The pitch at the SSC, as the Pakistan captain Younis Khan and the recalled leg-spinner Deanish Kaneria stated after the game, had flattened on the final day and there was hardly any encouragement for the bowlers unlike the earlier days.

Only one wicket had fallen in the first couple of sessions and the Pakistan bowlers were obviously tired and disheartened. The situation was ideal for Sri Lanka to attempt the biggest chase of Test history. But they chose not to go for it and settle for a draw.

Sri Lankan could still have drawn the game had they lost a few wickets in the process of forcing the pace. It’s hard to imagine in these days of Twenty20 cricket any team disinterested in going for a target of less than run a ball in the last 20 overs of a Test match.

The explanation of the Sri Lankan captain didn’t make sense. Not many people would accept the excuse his decision to abandon the chase was largely dictated by the injury concerns over Tillakaratne Dilshan.

"If Dilshan was fit we could have tried a few things out. We could have gone for a few more runs after tea, although they [Pakistan] bowled wide off the crease to cut the run supply and set defensive fields. When the 15 overs came up, we were in a position where we couldn't say either way, so we took the option of drawing the match. We planned to bat out session by session," Sangakkara said.

"The closer we were getting to their total, time was also running out and it became slightly easier to manage. I am pretty happy the way everyone played. This whole innings of ours as a team showed that we were starting to play proper Test cricket. We weren't really thinking about going for totals, we were trying to bat and enjoy our time out in the middle. If you are batting to save a game you really can't go too negative, that plays into the opposition's hands,” he added.

What the Sri Lankan captain was forgetting was the fact that his team had won emerged triumphant in the earlier couple of Tests and the momentum was with him. He was in an ideal position to press home the advantage in the third Test to make it 3-0 but he opted to be content with a 2-0 lead.

Younis Khan must thank his stars because it would have been a much greater humiliation had his team been whitewashed in the Test series soon after the triumph in the ICC Twenty20 Championship in England.

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