SRI LANKA
Placed in Group C along with New Zealand and Kenya, Sri Lanka's first match in the 2007 event saw them thrash Kenya by 172 runs at the Wanderers. Sanath Jayasuriya batted with characteristic freedom scoring a 44-ball 88 and Jehan Mubarak's late fireworks lifted Sri Lanka to a record team score of 260 for 6, a target way out of reach for the opposition as Kenya managed just 88. Sri Lanka won by a record margin of 172 runs.
Against New Zealand, Jayasuriya displayed fireworks once again with a 44-ball 61 to win by seven wickets. A delightful cameo of 37 at the end from Mahela Jayawardene was enough to punish New Zealand as Sri Lanka maintained their perfect record in the competition.
However, the Super Eight League saw them lose out to Pakistan as they were choked by 33 runs. Lasith Malinga picked up three wickets including that of Man of the Match Younis Khan but it was not sufficient to rescue them from defeat. Chasing a total 189, the openers failed to deliver and the team was bundled out for 156 runs.
Close after this defeat, Sri Lanka stormed to a 64-run win against Bangladesh. The victory pushed Bangladesh out of contention for a semi-final place, and left Sri Lanka needing to beat Australia to progress to the final four.
But the Australians produced one of the displays of the tournament to deliver a 10-wicket knockout punch to the Lankans.
It was a day Sri Lanka would like to forget. After being dismissed for only 101, they could not stop the Australian run-chase as they achieved the target in half the time with all wickets intact.
Even if Jayasuriya doesn't make it to England in 2009 Sri Lanka will still have one of the strongest batting line-ups with the experienced Mahela Jayawardena and Kumara Sangakkara likely to comprise a formidable middle-order while Lasith Malinga's sling-arm action is capable of destroying the best line-ups.
Kumar Sangakkara (captain)
Muttiah Muralidaran (vice-captain)
Sanath Jayasuriya
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Mahela Jayawardena
Chamara Silva
Angelo Mathew
Ajantha Mendis
Nuwan Kulasekara
Thilan Thushara Mirando
Lasith Malinga
Isuru Udana Thilakaratne
Farveez Maharoof
Jehan Mubarak
Indika de Saram
CAPTAIN'S CONFIDENTS
Sri Lanka’s new captain, Kumar Sangakkara spoke exclusively to the ICC about his passion for Twenty20 cricket, his thoughts on the 2007 event and how he believes the IPL isn’t overkill for cricket, as long as international teams maintain a good balance to combat fatigue.
Do you enjoy playing Twenty20?
Very much so, it’s been quite a revelation to all the players, spectators and the administrators as to how big Twenty20 has become in such a short period of time. Especially at international level it has become very popular. It started in England and caught on really well but in other countries there has been some resistance to the role that Twenty20 has started to play in the international calendar.
But I think the one international that we played against India in Colombo at the R.Premadasa Stadium proved the detractors in Sri Lanka wrong where we had the biggest-ever crowd in for the shorter version of the game on that night, people enjoyed themselves thoroughly and there was great cricket on display.
As players I think all we want to do is play good cricket. Whether that be Twenty20, one-day or Test cricket the onus is on the players to put on the best display that they can and make sure that the spectators get their money’s worth and also that you play to the spirit of the game, that you score the runs, you take the wickets that go into your stats as well so that at the end of your career it all stands together as recognizing you as a great player of the game.
What are your memories of the first ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 on and off the field?
On the field, it was noticeable that it’s a different form of the game and you really can’t play it the same way you would play one-day cricket – you’ve got to change your game and the composition of your team varies but it was a real pleasure playing in that real intense staccato version of the game, it was electrifying and all the players really enjoyed themselves, especially as the competition was still as tough and you had to squeeze all of it into 40 overs.
Off the field the sharing of the experience of the World Twenty20 with not just the players but also all the spectators who went to watch the opening game between the West Indies and South Africa in the stands, it was great to see and get a feel first-hand about how the spectators were accepting this format of the game. Also seeing South Africa, the various cross-sections of society from little children of all races and colour really coming together and enjoying something that transcends everything – politics and whatever else is going on in the world. Sport takes precedence and seems to unify people very strongly.
What can you take from the 2007 tournament, where you had a somewhat mixed-bag of an event, and move forward to the 2009 event?
A lot of things, number one being that in Twenty20 it takes very little to lose a game. Also I feel this version of the game evens the playing field for all teams like when Zimbabwe beat Australia and it going to take a lot of work in preparation both mentally and physically to make sure that you’re ready for the tournament in England and I think we’ve got a lot of groundwork to do from now onwards to make sure we’re fully prepared and have no excuses or complaints when we get to England.
Do you think this year’s tournament will be taken with more focus in comparison to the 2007 tournament where many teams didn’t necessarily know the tournament format?
Definitely – I think players have got a lot more exposure to the game, the IPL has taken centre stage in the world in cricket and it has come to make cricket look like the English Premier League franchise format. Players are well aware how important this format of the game is especially to their country’s prestige in the format.
Players are going to play a lot more intensely and they’ll be better prepared, there will be different players in their teams’ make-up, players who might not have had a chance to play one-day or Test cricket, some of them termed as Twenty20 specialists.
In my mind (those players) are more explosive and give you different aspects, not just bowlers, not just batsmen nor your bits-and-pieces players. What I think is really going to improve is the fielding because that becomes far more important in the shorter format of the game. I think you’ll find more athletically prepared sides going out there and putting on a display that is well researched and better prepared this time.
What will your own preparation be as a batsman for this tournament?
My own preparation will be to make sure that I fine-tune the shots that I already have, add a few more to my repertoire, and also make sure that if I do get a start it’s like any other format of the game – you have to go on and bat the overs and only if you bat the overs can you really capitalise.
But at the same time you’ve got to pick different bowlers at different times to take the risks and go for the boundaries. And if there does come a time in twenty20 where you do have to go for everything then you have to be unafraid to hit the ball in the air and hit the ball in the gaps and explore new avenues of scoring.
If you don’t have reverse sweeps then get them going, (using) paddle sweeps to fast bowlers, coming down the crease to bowlers – I’ll just make sure that I practice every single aspect and cover all bases of my game and that’s my preparation for all formats of the game and it’s not different for Twenty20.
Will conditions be slightly different in England than in South Africa – what kind of variations are you expecting?
Well you never know, if it’s a good summer in England you can get beautiful wickets, but the ball always tends to do a bit more there and you might not always get the real big scores, but you might get tough games or close games and still very interesting games.
In England I think the track record for spinners is very good. They’ve probably been the most successful of bowlers of this format of the game on the county circuit, so that should give a lot of the slower bowlers hope, but at the same time it is up to those players and how well they play and the display they put on is totally up to them. I think they are more than able to take the responsibility.
You’ll be playing in the IPL ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 and there is a split debate on whether it’s a good thing to be playing in the BCCI’s tournament ahead of the event. Some may say it could leave players feeling physically jaded ahead of an international tournament – where do you stand on this debate?
I think you always have to balance things out and if you don’t play the IPL then we [Sri Lanka] have no cricket and we’d just be training in the nets and doing all our preparation work – but there is nothing like match practice. So I think the players will be well prepared having played the IPL to go into more twenty20 cricket, but of course the conditions will be different.
In regards to this too much cricket debate, it’s not going to change anytime in the future, it’s going to be a very hard workload especially for bowlers, but it gives countries ideal opportunities to test their bench strength where they can rotate players in and out and make sure that the best 11 is always in the best physical condition and mental condition to take the field and at the same time give exposure to the fringe players who need the opportunity and exposure to show everyone what they can do and try to break into a permanent place in the national side.
There are different balances but I think all the countries and all the players will have no choice but to make sure that they have some plan to balance out the heavy workload as well as player fatigue.
One bonus of the IPL must be that you can look at potential opponents ahead of the tournament?
I suppose that is true. I think the greatest experience I’ve had in the IPL is, of course, that we are playing excellent cricket but at the same time we’re also playing with and against not just your usual opponents but also with your own team-mates.
So for me it’s been a real eye-opener in the camaraderie that’s been built, the relationships, the friendships that have sprung up due to the IPL and hopefully it will bring a day when the match referee is not needed to have a look in on games and these tournaments like the IPL are a good way to do that.
The group that you’re playing in for the ICC World Twenty20 has got Australia but you’ve also got the West Indies who were of course eliminated in the first round of the 2007 tournament which explains why they’re in the same group. It’s the only group without an Associate team – is it a daunting prospect of a group knowing that one of you will definitely be going home.
It is a daunting prospect but at the same time if you want to win a tournament you’ve got to beat all the sides in the first round or the second, you’ve still got to beat them, so my feeling is get it over in the first round and make sure that hopefully you beat both teams but if beating one team is enough to qualify then just try and win every game you play and make sure you progress in the tournament.
Tough opponents at the start might give us that much more motivation to try and break into the second round and go further in the tournament.
The men and women are playing alongside each other in this tournament for the first time, and the Sri Lanka women’s team will be involved. Do you think that’s good for women’s cricket and Sri Lanka cricket?
I think it’s very timely that it has happened. Women’s cricket has come a long way in the last few years in terms of recognition and status and I think everyone has got to recognise the fact it is a game that must run parallel with the men’s game.
If you can have concurrent tournaments like this it will give a lot of exposure and a lot of experience to women’s cricket and especially to a side like the Sri Lankan side who come into tournaments like this where they get the chance to experience not just playing against their opponents but also learning from the men’s game.
Do you have much to do with the Sri Lanka women’s cricket team?
Not really. They do train in the same gym that we do and we have tried to make sure that it is run as professionally as men’s cricket is, but we still have a long way to go and a lot to do to make sure they have the same facilities and the same opportunities to improve and become a leading force in women’s cricket.
We have the girls and the talent to do that and now it’s just the responsibility of the Sri Lanka Cricket board to keep on injecting the finance and injecting the qualified personnel to guide these girls into better cricket.
