George Binoy investigates the problems surrounding cricket in Malaysia

George Binoy in Kuala Lumpur20-Feb-2008
Former Malaysia captain Suresh Navaratnam: “We have to make people continue with cricket after the age of 18” © Getty Images
Developing cricket in a country, which isn’t very good at it, is a tremendous undertaking. There are innumerable problems and yet all of them are interconnected because one gives rise to another.Take cricket in Malaysia for instance, the challenges form a vicious circle: the average Malay has almost no knowledge about the game and because the awareness levels are low, the player base is tiny. A small player pool has an adverse effect on the quality of the national team and the lack of positive results leads to poor media coverage and limited sponsorship. And because of cricket’s inconspicuousness and low levels of funding, fewer people are inclined to take it up as a profession. And so we’re back where we started: at a miniscule player base. To put it crisply, cricket in Malaysia suffers from everything a country like India doesn’t.To solve such a complex issue, you need to start somewhere and Malaysia has begun to introduce cricket widely at the school level. Suresh Navaratnam, who was the Malaysian captain between 1998 and 2006, recalled his school days, when it used to be a struggle to put a team together. “A lot of locals don’t play. The majority of the people are Malays, Indiansare a small percentage of the population and the Chinese don’t play [either]. We used to pick our friends and sometimes we used to get hockey players to play cricket,” Navaratnam told . “That was the only way because it was so difficult to get 16 guys for a team. It’sbetter now because we get about 50-100 guys in a school playing cricket. The Malays are now starting to play.”A step in the right direction has been made with cricket being included in four sports schools around the country. These schools have facilities and were started to target students who were inclined towards sports. The infrastructure in these schools, which offer other sports as well, isfunded by the government and most of Malaysia’s young cricket talent emerges from these schools – 18 out of the initial 21-member pool for the Under-19 World Cup – according to coach Sahidul Alam. However, Alam, who is from Bangladesh, said there was still a lot of untapped talent.”Some of the project schools are very good that look for only for very good students,” Alam said. “So if there’s a cricketer who is not good at studies it will be hard for him to get into the school though he has talent. Somewhere or the other the boys miss out and a lot of talent is lost. So in these schools they have about 25-30 players from different age groups U-13, U-15 and U-17.The number of sports schools, although an effort is being made to increase them, is few and introducing cricket into other schools has several problems. It’s an expensive game to play – one needs the equipment, turf pitches and in Malaysia, where it rains more often than not, indoorfacilities become vital. And because of the lack of facilities, fewer children are inclined to play.A lot of the children, after their age-group days are over, branch off into higher studies and take up professions because there isn’t much of a future as a cricketer becausethe domestic competition structure is poor and career opportunities are limited”Sometimes at the U-17 level, there are seven U-17 boys playing, few who are 15 and even some 13-year olds because they cannot fill a team with the same age group,” Alam said. The deputy president of the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA), P Krishnaswamy, who is also the chairman of the organising committee of the U-19 World Cup says that the MCA was tacklingthis issue by sponsoring the infrastructure.”The MCA per se is helping with the equipment, turf wickets, artificial wickets and all the rest,” Krishnaswamy said. “We’re trying to have a coach at every level of our junior cricket competition. For the schools we have development managers going to all the schools, getting more schoolsto play the game.”Alam also feels that there is a need for a coach education program in Malaysia to train the gradually increasing player base at the school level. Such a program would also induce former cricketers to train as coaches and continue to build talent.So has the player base increased in the last few years? “It’ll take time but our base of cricketers has increased a lot in the last three years,” says Krishnaswamy. “If we have 10000 now in five years we want to make it 30000 people involved with cricket. That’s a big base for us.
Malaysia’s Norwira Zazmie in action in the ongoing U-19 World Cup © Getty Images
“Our junior development program has been good now and we have developed in the last three or four years. We have a good U-19 side. They’ll perform well. It’s a very good fielding side, the batting is a bit weak but we don’t have that kind of exposure. But our U-17 side is very good. In Asia we’ll be in the top four in the U-13, U-15 and U-17s easily.”However, much of the development work at the school level in Malaysia is being undone after the kids leave school. A lot of the children, after their age-group days are over, branch off into higher studies and take up professions because there isn’t much of a future as a cricketer becausethe domestic competition structure is poor and career opportunities are limited.”We have to make people continue with cricket after the age of 18, when they go to university and start thinking of their career,” Navaratnam says. “The government needs to support in terms of scholarships and job opportunities. More private sector companies need to play cricket so whenplayers go to their company they continue to play. Our junior levels are good but when they grow older the number playing gets smaller. We need to start cricket in university and colleges very seriously. The age group of 18-23 is where we are losing people. Krishnaswamy says the MCA was trying to build a scholarship program which would allow the cricketers to stick to the sport after they passed the age of 19.”When you don’t play for the country at the age of 21-22 you get bored. You play at a club level and think you’re wasting your time. Your commitment to cricket won’t be full time because you play mainly on Sundays.”The quality of domestic and club cricket in Malaysia takes a huge hit because of the outflow of cricketers after they finish with school. As a result, Navaratnam said that the national team had only about 30 guys to choose from because the “difference between the national team and the next level is too much” to bridge. “If a national player doesn’t perform you can’t pick a replacement from the next level because it is too low. We have to close that gap by increasing the quality of domestic cricket.”So what are the positives for Malaysian cricket amid all this? One thing going for them is that Malaysia has excellent facilities that were built for the Commonwealth Games in 1998, of which cricket was a part. There are nine turf facilities in Kuala Lumpur which have been improvedfurther and several other grounds in Johor and Penang have been refurbished for the U-19 World Cup.The National Sports Council has also funded a large part of the development for the World Cup. “They have an elite athlete development program where they deal with only elite sports,” Alam said. Cricket is not an elite sport in Malaysia but they have considered the World Cup as anelite sport. They are supporting in every possible way to prepare the team.”At the end of it all, there can be no substitute for good results to boost a sport in a particular country. That is why so much hinges on the performance of the Malaysia Under-19s in this World Cup. A qualification for the Super League may be asking too much but a few wins in the PlateChampionship will help make headway in solving the problems of publicity, awareness and funding.

How James Anderson, England’s poster boy, has become a man

Emma John06-Oct-2007

Anderson is thinking back to the start of his career – the one where he was an overnight sensation, where he was catapulted from his club side, Burnley, to
the England team within six months, where he briefly threatened, with his skaterboy looks and his Freddie Ljungberg hair, to make England cricket cool. “I loved
every minute,” he says. “I wouldn’t change a thing.” He pauses. “But part of me does think, maybe, if I’d just had two or three years more to settle, I might have had a longer run at it.” He smiles. “Then again, I might never have got the chance.”

The early days © Getty Images

Caught at a glance, he looks very much like the Anderson of four years ago, who appeared on the cover of the first issue of bearing such promise for the future. He is tall and still trendy and undeniably good-looking. He is, once again, in a designer t-shirt and jeans, although this time the logo on the t-shirt is more subdued. He looks taller, however, because he walks with a more upright step. He seems more in control of his body and of his situation than the loose-limbed 21-year-old he was in 2003. His face is different, too. His cheeks are more shaped, his eyebrows less heavy. To be blunt, he has stopped looking like a boy and started looking like a man.After three years of limited visibility Anderson is back. In August the Indian team chose him as England’s player of the Test series. He had taken 14 wickets and, still with only 19 Tests to his name, led England’s most inexperienced attack in years to a creditable performance despite losing the series. A few days later he achieved his best ODI bowling figures. For the first time in his career he was proving his worth consistently against top-class opposition, not to mention dismissing Sachin Tendulkar five times in six weeks.Two images of Anderson’s Indian summer will endure. One is that glorious clattering of Tendulkar’s stumps in the third Test. The other is his five-for at Lord’s, which included India’s big three – Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly – and secured Anderson his best Test figures. He is particularly proud of the ball that dismissed Ganguly. “What made it more special for me was the fact that I was bowling outswingers to him and that was, I think, the second inswinger I bowled at him. I don’t think I could have bowled it better.”At the start of 2007 few would have predicted that Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson would be the best bowlers of the summer. But injury to all five of the 2005 Ashes-winning bowlers left England facing India with an untested attack. Did it help, walking
into a dressing room with no remnant of that particular posse? Anderson thinks carefully about this. “Maybe,” he says. “I guess when there’s a few other guys around, there’s not as much pressure on you and that can be a bad thing because you can think, ‘Well, it doesn’t
matter if I don’t get the wickets, because someone else will.’ It should never be like that.”Allan Donald, England’s former bowling coach, took Sidebottom, Anderson and Chris Tremlett to one side before the first game and told them they must not use their inexperience as an excuse. He had already told Anderson he wanted him to lead the attack and Anderson relished the responsibility. “I enjoyed taking the first over, trying to set the tone for the rest of the game. It probably did help my performance.”Anderson’s voice is deadpan. Ever since his arrival on the England scene his laid-back attitude fostered an inaccurate image of a sulky teenager without much to say. I remember, meeting him four years ago, being surprised at how wrong that impression was – Anderson was thoughtful and responsive about every question he was asked.
Today he is even more relaxed. He smiles widely and often, and is self-deprecating
about those three years of obscurity. “I still bowl the odd inswinger down the leg side” – he laughs – “and it keeps going and the keeper can’t get it. But I’m a lot more consistent.”

“…it’s no coincidence that his good performances for England have come after bowling a high volume of overs in county cricket…” © Getty Images

Lancashire’s cricket manager, Mike Watkinson, who has been working with him since he was a 17-year-old in the 2nd XI, says Anderson’s demeanour has often been misconstrued. “When he was younger he was pretty quiet and quite shy around the place. In many instances people felt he hadn’t got many good ideas. But he’s a real thinker on the game. He puts a lot of time into analysing the opposition and he’s quietly thorough in his personal preparation.” Since the start of this summer Anderson has requested to
play as many games as possible for Lancashire – something that the new England coach, Peter Moores, has been much quicker to accommodate than Duncan Fletcher. “Everybody’s a confidence player,” says Watkinson, “but some people mask it better than others.”James is not one of those people who can turn up whenever he feels like it and bowl how everyone wants him to. And it’s no coincidence that his good performances for England have come after bowling a high volume of overs in county cricket.”For those who have been waiting to see Anderson fulfill his promise, his achievements this summer – unspectacular in themselves – have caused a ripple of satisfaction. Many, however, will require further proof. Anderson and consistency have been distant cousins at best. When we first met, a few months after his explosive start to international cricket, Anderson was suffering a humiliating change in fortune; 11 wickets against Zimbabwe and an ODI hat-trick against Pakistan had been followed by a thrashing – though the series was drawn – at the hands of Graeme Smith and his South African team. He said then his greatest asset was to be able to “come back stronger”.But Anderson’s comebacks were infrequent and disappointing. His control deserted him. What had been a thrillingly instinctive ability to swing the ball into the stumps now looked like guesswork. His unorthodox head-down delivery, a charming quirk when it was taking wickets, was now heresy and there were rumours that he was undergoing a redrawing of his action. That, in turn, was blamed for his lack of confidence on the
few occasions he did get to the crease. He lost his place, first to James Kirtley, then to Simon Jones, and then to whoever else was available. In the years that followed, Anderson toured Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan with England. On those four tours he played just two Tests and had little more to do than bowl in the nets and keep his team-mates hydrated. Even in home series he was frequently called to the
squad as cover, only to be sent back to Lancashire where his county team were already two days into a Championship match. In the summer of 2004 he played seven first-class games, three of which were Tests.Was Anderson ever able to enjoy the 12th man role, to which he was condemned so long? He ums and ahs, trying to think of a redeeming feature. “Not really, no. Not for me anyway. You don’t feel part of it and it’s quite hard being around. If there’s a win, you might have run round like a madman all day filling people with drinks but you still don’t get the same enjoyment.”When you’re not playing – and anyone will say the same thing, I’m sure – it’s hard when other bowlers are doing well, even though everyone is good friends. I’ve been 12th man when Matthew Hoggard has been playing. He’s one of my best mates in the team and I’m
really happy for him when he does well but at the same time you think that’s one more place where I can’t get in.”How was his relationship with Duncan Fletcher? He pauses, thinking carefully how to answer. “It was quite a difficult situation. You were expected to run around and look after everyone, but you also felt ignored at times. You’re not playing, so you get brushed to
one side. You did feel a little bit left out and you could be made to feel a little bit left out as well. It was a pretty thankless job really because you’re just expected to do it.”

The big one: Anderson bowls Sachin Tendulkar © Getty Images

In 2006 he married Daniella Lloyd, a model he had met two years previously while with the England team. Marriage has made him “a much happier person,” he says. “At the start of my career all I thought about was cricket. That was the only thing in my life and, if I
wasn’t playing it, I was watching it or I was thinking about it. If I had a bad game it would be the end of the world and I could be extremely grumpy around my friends. Now I’ve got a lot more to think about. I still have my moments where I’m a bit grumpy but I try and stay as upbeat as possible.”Certainly, if Anderson has had one problem as a bowler, it has been trying too hard, caring too much. A couple of years ago Angus Fraser told him to stop being such a perfectionist. He has learned the lesson. “I think that’s one thing I’ve moved away from a little bit,” he says, nodding at the realisation. “If I bowl a ball nine inches away from off stump, and I’m happy with it, I’ll try and bowl the same ball – even if I think I’d rather be a little bit straighter. If you’re always looking for the perfect ball, that’s where mistakes creep in, and in the past they have done with me. Sometimes you do try a little bit
too much.”He has also had his share of seriously bad luck. Just as he seemed to be gaining confidence a stress fracture put him out of action for virtually the whole of last season. Returning to the England side last winter, he walked straight into an Ashes team that was carrion meat from the moment the toss was lost in Brisbane. Like many of those players, Anderson still struggles to speak of it lucidly, as if he were a trauma survivor. Then came the World Cup; Anderson broke a finger before England had played their first group match. “The doctor looked at my X-ray and I could see his face, it wasn’t happy. I thought, ‘Right, I’m going home.’ I was gutted and thinking of places I could go on holiday.”Instead Anderson was offered the chance to play through the pain. He took it. “I thought after winning the CB Series, why can’t we do well in the World Cup?” Following defeat by New Zealand in the opening game, he took to the pub with Jon Lewis and three
other players. It was the most ill-advised evening out since Britney and Paris last hit the town together. All five players were fined for “breaching team discipline”, while somewhere nearby Andrew Flintoff was falling into the Caribbean sea in an incident that became known simply as Fredalo.Does Anderson regret it? He nods and gives a wry smile. “There’s been a culture in the past that you can go out after a one-day game because you’ve got a few days to recover. That’s something that Peter Moores is trying to get rid of, which is right. We made a bad decision. Our aim wasn’t to go out and get drunk. We just wanted to get a drink and where we’d been out in Australia you could get away with it a bit more. In St Lucia you can’t. It’s very small, there were a lot of English people there. And with the Fred incident as well, as much as we apologised for that and said we wanted to put it to one side, I don’t think we ever really did.”

“I’ve tried bowling with my head up and the ball comes out about 20mph slower” © Getty Images

He talks with admiration of Moores, who has, he says, brought fresh ideas and a new discipline. “The fitness side has taken a step up since Duncan left and Peter took over,” he says. “After a one-day game we used to have a day off. Now we’ve got to train the next day, keep things ticking over, keep our strength up.” He is also full of praise for the three bowling coaches who have helped him so much over the last four years: Troy Cooley, Kevin Shine and Watkinson.Still he sounds a little weary of discussing his action which has, contrary to rumours, changed little. “I’ve tried bowling with my head up and the ball comes out about 20mph slower. I don’t think it matters that much; there’s other bowlers in international cricket who do it.” The only element that has changed considerably, he says, is the angle of his run-up. “I’ve almost gone full circle – I’m quite close to the action that I started with in first-class cricket. And it does feel more natural. The last thing on my mind as I run up now is my action. In the past, if I wasn’t bowling well, I’d be wondering in the back of my mind if it could be my action.”Perhaps all Anderson needed was to learn to relax. He certainly seems content. He and his wife now live in Hale, in Cheshire – he says that Daniella, who is from London, is keen to move him “as far south as possible” – and his Burnley club-mates are still his closest friends, and still text to rib him whenever he gets a tonking on the field. Children are “not a long way off” [Daniella is six years his senior]. “I’d love to be a dad, I can’t wait, whenever it is,” he says. The last time we spoke, girlfriends were still a touchy subject. Four years is a long time to be in the wings. It is no time at all to grow up.

Shaun Pollock led by example and masterminded the biggest upset of the Indian Premier League as Mumbai toppled Delhi

Cricinfo staff04-May-2008
Shaun Pollock inspired Mumbai to a shock win over Delhi, playing the roles of batsman, bowler and captain with aplomb (file photo) © AFP
On eve of the match against the Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians’ captain Shaun Pollock had said that they would retain their “winning combination” in response to a question regarding whether Sachin Tendulkar would play. It was a cheeky answer, after Mumbai had recorded their first win after four successive defeats, but Pollock led by example and masterminded the biggest upset of the Indian Premier League as Mumbai toppled Delhi. It was their second successive victory, their first at home, and it instilled the belief that Mumbai could win even without Tendulkar.The target that Mumbai set – 162 – was modest by the tournament’s standards and with Delhi’s power-packed batting line-up – Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik – they were favourites to chase and win. As it turned out they fell 29 runs short, and the difference between the two teams was Pollock, who played the roles of batsman, bowler and captain with aplomb.If Mumbai were going to challenge Delhi, Pollock needed to do a McGrath, i.e take wickets and concede few runs. His modus operandi was spot on and he inspired his bowlers to keep up the pressure. Pollock’s first ball to Gambhir, the third-highest runscorer in the IPL, set the tone: a perfect out going delivery that Gambhir nearly edged before pulling his bat out of the way in the nick of time.Such discipline and accuracy were the building blocks of Pollock’s legend as South Africa’s strike bowler. That focus on the minutiae maintained his status as one of the most economical bowlers till the time he decided to hang up his boots. Today he took those boots out of the locker once again.His opening three-over spell cost only 11 runs and included the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, who had successfully continued the openers’ good work in Delhi’s previous victories. Pollock then returned at a crucial juncture to finish his spell when Delhi were rebuilding to launch a final assault. Malik and Dinesh Karthik were steadily regaining the momentum lost immediately after Sehwag’s departure and the asking-rate was around eight an over, thoroughly manageable by Delhi’s standards.Pollock’s first ball of his last over was a slower one. Malik took the risk of clearing the straight boundary but failed to clear the long off. Pollock later said the “wickets of Sehwag and Malik were the key” because they had international experience of orchestrating close run-chases.Sehwag too felt that if he had batted longer Delhi would have made it. “Had I not got out at that stage I am confident we would have won comfortably,” he said. “We kept losing wickets at regular intervals and the asking-rate went up. It was batting failure which was responsible for the defeat.”That batting failure was brought about by Pollock’s bowling skill and his ability to marshal his team-mates. He was seen motivating his young bowlers, putting an arm around each one, being assertive, and yet he delivered his instructions gently. His cool captaincy on the field came after he had lifted Mumbai’s innings from the throes at 112 for 5 with a sparkling 15-ball 33, which included a calculated 22-run assault against Mohammad Asif in the 19th over. The feature of Pollock’s batting was the manner he moved towards the leg side to make room against the tight line and lengths employed by Delhi’s bowlers.His innings was the difference between a poor total and a competitive one, and his spell punctured Delhi’s run-chase at the start. It was a compelling allround effort by a captain of a team that had the worst start to the IPL and his reward was a victory against the table leaders.

How quickly will India’s one-day squad adjust to the demands of the more sedate 50-over format after wallowing for 45 days in the thrill-a-minute IPL rollercoaster?

George Binoy in Mirpur09-Jun-2008

	Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys would do well to extend some aspects of their Twenty20 experience to the 50-over format © AFP

How quickly will India’s squad adjust to the 50-over format after 44 days of thrill-a-minute Twenty20? That’s been the question most frequently asked here, ahead of India’s first international assignment since the IPL.The general perception is that players could take time to find their one-day rhythm. “It is something that we’ve considered,” Gary Kirsten, the India coach, said on the eve of the match against Pakistan. “We need to make sure that our gameplans and strategies are designed for 50-over cricket. It is different from what you’re doing in the IPL.”However, the flip side holds equally true: there are some aspects of play in the Twenty20 format, which, if applied sensibly, could give India an unmistakable edge in ODIs.Sanath Jayasuriya changed the way batting teams approached the first 15 overs. Yet the start of an innings in ODIs can be boosted if either Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir, perhaps even Yusuf Pathan, is given the license to open in Twenty20 mode.Apart from the constant flow of boundaries, other standout features of the IPL were urgent running between the wickets and attempts to outwit the bowler with innovative footwork and strokeplay. Shane Watson kept moving towards the off side to get inside the line of the ball, a tactic which allowed him to hit towards the leg side; S Badrinath used the depth of his crease when bowlers tried to find the block hole; and Gambhir frequently charged the fast bowlers to pull over wide long-on, or gave himself room to loft it over the off-side field.What these tactics did was to throw the opposition out of their comfort zones: bowlers had to rework their plans, while captains were required to change the field accordingly. Such strategies could be effective during the middle overs of an ODI, where a little more imagination could transform predictable patterns of scoring.It’s not all one-way traffic in Twenty20 though. Bowlers have 24 balls to deliver and they try and make each one count. The yorker is a critical weapon, and changes of pace and length are vital to surprise the batsman. It takes considerable discipline and control to be spot on for four overs in a Twenty20 match, and the key is to extend that to ten in ODIs.There is, of course, the possibility of everything falling flat. And that’s where a quick-thinking leader – Shane Warne and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were hailed as the best in the IPL – has a tremendous role to play. Contingency plans become vital and the ability of the team to adapt to quick changes in match situations depends on how the captain handles the pressure.The 50-over version has been criticised by many since the success of Twenty20 and perhaps some of it is deserved. And yet there is scope for enlivening 50-over cricket without tinkering too much with the format. All it needs is for teams to develop the ability to sustain their Twenty20 skill over slightly longer periods. The key is risk management.

Michael Hussey has become so good at stabilising potentially worrying situations that he could get a job straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Brydon Coverdale at the Adelaide Oval29-Nov-2008
He is no cross-bat slogger but at the Adelaide Oval, Michael Hussey slowly started to use the venue’s dimensions for his own purpose© AFP (file photo)
Michael Hussey is probably the world’s most organised cricketer and in an Australia team so unsettled that they haven’t picked the same XI in consecutive Tests for 11 matches, his reliability is invaluable. Hussey has become so good at stabilising potentially worrying situations that he could get a job straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa.Australia’s circumstances here were far from dire, although when he came to the crease at 2 for 49 on a pitch where scores of 500-plus are commonplace, solidity was required. Ricky Ponting currently features in a television ad where he calls his helmet “the rock of Gibraltar” but in most situations the term would be more appropriate for Hussey. His calmness and dependability allowed Ponting to lead Australia in strengthening their position with a terrifically fluent half-century.When their hundred partnership came up, Hussey’s contribution had been 27. Ponting was drawing applause for his frequent boundaries while Hussey was disciplined but no less important. It is a role that has become Hussey’s niche in the past year. When he burst onto the Test scene with a Bradmanesque first couple of seasons he was coming in after Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, arguably the most in-form opening pair in the world, and Ponting at the height of his powers.Langer has gone, Hayden is struggling and Ponting is still a menace to opponents but with bigger gaps between peaks. The batting line-up remains relatively strong – 3 for 241 is an excellent position at stumps on day two in Adelaide replying to 270 – but it is less intimidating than it was. As a result, Hussey’s role has been tweaked: he is the No. 4, the anchor and usually the trickiest man to get out. A self-described traditionalist, Hussey is a throwback to Test batsmen of old and he stubbornly protected his wicket on a benign Adelaide surface where the likes of Bradman and Clem Hill played much of their cricket.”It’s still not easy you know,” Hussey said after finishing the day unbeaten on 69 from 178 balls. “Test cricket’s hard. You have to do a lot of hard work to reap the rewards at the end of the day. I think we’ve just got to get back into that mode of being patient, working hard over long periods.”If Australia lose Hayden over the next year an in-form and confident Hussey will become even more important. In Hussey’s short Test career he has constructed more purple patches than Barney the Dinosaur’s tailor, so it’s tempting to view his 2008 average of 46.78 as below par. But that is an unfair assessement and although Hussey felt scratchy earlier this year, he is sure that his best form is not far away.”I felt pretty good in India to be honest,” Hussey said. “But I’ve felt like since being back in Australia I’ve had to work very hard for my runs again. I have been working on a couple of technical things since the start of the season, since we were up in Darwin and I’ve continued to work on those. It feels pretty good.”Hussey has so many plans and set thought processes in his head it’s a wonder it doesn’t explode. He is an obsessive list-maker and is constantly thinking through the way he should construct an innings. When he batted with the brilliant Ponting, he knew his task was simply to turn over the strike and watch the boundaries tick over at the other end. But when Ponting pulled to midwicket, Hussey’s role changed. At the time he had 28 from 105 deliveries; his tally from that moment onwards was 41 from 73.”I felt more comfortable after tea because I had been in for a while and I was sort of used to the conditions a lot more,” he said. “I felt I was trying to get some scoring options against [Daniel] Vettori. But you do feel probably a little bit of added pressure when the man that’s set gets out, you feel like right now it’s my responsibility to go on and bat throughout the day and try and build a big score.”Hussey would be a good poker player. He is an excellent judge of situations and doesn’t gamble with what he can’t afford to lose. He is a frustrating man to deal to because whatever he is handed he can make work to his advantage and most importantly, he plays the percentages to a fault.He is no cross-bat slogger but at the Adelaide Oval, where the square boundaries are so short that fans on opposite sides can wave hello to each other, Hussey slowly started to use the venue’s dimensions for his own purpose. His eight boundaries all went more or less square of the wicket and he was able to sweep against Vettori, whose 28 miserly overs cost 54, and clubbed him over midwicket to reach his half-century.The fans cheered, although they had more reason to roar for Ponting earlier in the day. Ponting’s 79 from 124 balls featured 13 fours and it is the innings that the spectators on this Saturday at Adelaide Oval will remember. But for a team that will in the next year face one of the world’s best pace attacks in home-and-away Tests against South Africa and then proceed to England, where they lost the Ashes in 2005, Hussey’s consistent contributions might get the attention they deserve.

The world’s top-ranked allrounder is a Bangladeshi who has oodles of self-belief to go with his undoubted talent

Utpal Shuvro06-Feb-2009

	Shakib picks up yet another match award © AFP

It’s one of cricket’s ironies that one of its best allrounders of the moment might
have been lost to football instead, but for several turns of fate. Like every other boy in the provincial town of Magura, 170 miles from Dhaka, Shakib al Hasan was a regular on the playing field whenever he got a chance but the big draw was always football. His father had played the game for Khulna Division and a cousin had gone on to represent Bangladesh, so football more or less ran in the family.Cricket was on the sporting curriculum though, and the fashion among the youth
was “tape-tennis” cricket. Shakib was fairly proficient and was often “hired” to
play for different villages. One such game changed his life.A local umpire called Saddam Hossain was impressed by the kid’s prowess and called him to practise with the Islampur Para Club, one of the teams in the Magura Cricket League. Shakib turned up and, as was his wont, batted aggressively and bowled fast. That was what he knew best. Then, suddenly, inexplicably, he began bowling spin – and had the batsmen totally flummoxed.He made the cut for the Islampur team and picked up a wicket with the first ball on his Magura Cricket League debut – his first-ever delivery with a proper cricket ball.It could sound a bit too pat but Shakib’s journey from Magura to the top of the ICC
rankings for allrounders – the first Bangladesh player ever to top any ICC ranking – hasn’t happened overnight, nor has it been the result of any one dramatic or magical moment. It’s been a long journey, with its share of ups and downs, happiness and sorrow, laughter and tears, since he first held a bat eight-odd years ago.Shakib’s eyes drift away as he narrates his story, building up a tapestry of images
and defining moments. Throughout, there is surprise that a boy who didn’t play a
proper game of cricket till he was in his teens could be the world’s top allrounder.The talent-scouting camp at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) comes first
to his mind. His ability had been noticed at a one-month camp in Narail before he was
chosen for the six-month training course at BKSP. He remembers his father warning
him about neglecting his studies, as well as the persuasive tactics of the BKSP
coach, “Bappi sir” (Ashraful Islam Bappi). “Uncle, let him go. He has a future in
cricket,” Bappi pleaded with Shakib’s father.Life at the BKSP camp was good, with Shakib managing to enroll himself in class eight
under special consideration. His skills with bat and ball helped him overcome the
adversities of a new environment.His next break came when he was called up in the absence of one of the regulars in a
domestic Under-15 fixture. His century off 52 balls was enough to earn him a place
in the national U-15 team, followed by, with metronomic frequency, steps up to the
U-17, U-19 and Bangladesh A levels, and then to the national team.And then one day last month he got a phone call from a journalist. “You are the
world’s No. 1 allrounder, according to the one-day rankings published today. Can I
have your reactions?”What could he possibly say? Such emotions cannot be put in words. From the day he
seriously took up cricket, this had been his dream: of reaching the top – not just
himself as a player but his team as well. His job was only half done, but it was a
great leap forward.You can imagine Shakib talking to the journalist – “I’m just so happy. My dream’s
come true, etc etc,” he would have warbled in a quivering voice. But if you thought
that, you really don’t know Shakib very well.Of course he was delighted, and said as much, before adding: “What reactions do I have? Well, it hasn’t quite sunk in. Can I think on it through the night and let you know tomorrow?”It’s this quality, of not getting carried away, of being in control of his
emotions, that made him stand out among the other boys at BKSP, a trait noticed by
the coach Nazmul Abedin Fahim as well. “A lot of people say that Shakib has little
emotion, but he is quite an emotional lad. He just possesses this remarkable
ability to control his emotions.”Fahim remembers the day he first recognised Shakib’s immense talent as a cricketer.
Fahim was in charge of the Bangladesh U-15 team touring India. The first match, against
the Bengal U-15s, in the industrial town of at Kalyani, was played on a brand new
pitch. The tourists lost early wickets but Shakib stuck around to score a match-winning 69. It became a habit on the tour – early dismissals followed by a rescue act by Shakib.

	Shakib has repeatedly been asked one particular question at press conferences: “Are you a batting allrounder or a bowling allrounder?” The reply is part laconic, part genuine uncertainty: “I am a cricketer

Fahim was also in charge of the Bangladesh team – of which Shakib was a member – at
the U-17 Asia Cup in India in 2004. Those around at the time recall vividly the
occasion when, asked by a journalist to name the team’s best bowler, batsman and
fielder, Fahim replied “Shakib” to all three.Theirs was a long-standing relationship. Fahim, a veteran coach at BKSP, had
mentored several generations of Bangladeshi cricketers but he always believed Shakib
was in a different class. “He may not be the most technically gifted of the many
students I taught. But he’s the best when one considers the total package. At
cricket’s topmost level the game is played more in the mind, and from the mental
perspective he is way above everyone,” says Fahim.Habibul Bashar, who was the Bangladesh captain when Shakib made his international
debut on the 2006 tour of Zimbabwe, seconds Fahim. “He [Shakib] is mentally very tough and he can deal with success very simply as well. This is why he is so consistent,” says Bashar.It’s not just about dealing with success and failure on the field; Shakib has a very
simplistic view on matters away from the game as well. “I don’t brood over issues.
The more you think about it, the more complex it becomes. I want to keep everything
simple. And I don’t mean just the game. Matters off the field may not be within my
control as well, so why lose sleep over things you can’t control? What I can do is to
give my best every time.”Backing up his clear understanding of what he can do is a firm belief in the
ability to do so. Together they set him apart from the other players in the team. “His biggest strength as a cricketer lies in backing his own ability. Criticism and
analyses have never stopped him from playing his own game,” says Fahim.Maybe it’s “a high degree of self-belief” as the current Bangladesh captain
Mohammad Ashraful says. “Though he [Shakib] doesn’t bowl too much at practice, he always delivers during a match. Now that’s only possible if you have tremendous belief in
yourself.”More than the self-belief, perhaps, is Shakib’s resolve to be the best. “Whenever
anyone outperforms me, whether in academics or sport, I tell myself that if he could
do it, so can I. Whenever someone from the team is adjudged Man of the Match, I feel
the honour could have been mine as well, It’s not jealousy – my team-mates’ success
obviously gives me a lot of joy – but one basic question: ‘If he could, why couldn’t
I?'”So he’s got the self-confidence and the determination. What more do you need for
success? Hard work? Shakib will definitely work as hard as he can. But Mohammad
Salauddin, his bowling and mental-strength guru – another teacher from his BKSP
days, and the current Bangladesh assistant coach – doesn’t consider hard work a
key element in Shakib’s success. “I wouldn’t call Shakib a hard worker. His
biggest talent is that he picks up things very easily. He has a very logical brain.”Salauddin remembers an incident from Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa last
November. “On the first day of the first Test, at Bloemfontein, Shakib didn’t get a
single wicket. I told him to flight the ball but he was apprehensive, thinking he’d
get hit all over the park.”But I know him. So the next day, in the bus on the way to the stadium, I started reading a chapter on flight in spin bowling. He asked me what I was reading. I told him it was just some points on the usefulness of flight in spin bowling.”Shakib immediately picked up what I was trying to say. That morning he gave the ball
air and flight and got his wickets.” After ending the first day with no wickets from
25 overs, his day two figures read: 13 overs, 35 runs and five wickets.”That spell sums up Shakib’s bowling over the past four months – the best of his
career, the most successful and, at times, magical. It was also a bit of a surprise.
He began his one-day career as a No. 4 batsman, and in his 60 innings till date, he
has batted lower than five on only a handful of occasions. In Tests he has batted mostly at No. 7, but all along, he was always known as a batting allrounder. That was till the home series against New Zealand in October last year.

	Start as you mean to go on: Shakib gets the first of his seven wickets in the first innings against New Zealand in Chittagong last year © AFP

Just before that two-Test series, Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons suddenly announced
that Shakib would be playing as a specialist spinner – and that’s the role
he has been fulfilling since then. In the first innings of the first Test, in
Chittagong, he picked up 7 for 37, the best bowling figures by any Bangladeshi
player in Tests. That was the appetiser; the main course came on the tour of South
Africa.His five- and six-wicket hauls in the two Tests against South Africa were a
significant milestone, considering greats like Shane Warne and Anil Kumble had
failed to do as much against those opponents, and even Muttiah Muralitharan achieved it just the once. Shakib’s performance drew the praise of former Australian legspinner Kerry O’Keefe, who said he was the “world’s best finger spinner at the moment”.Another five-for followed in the next Test, at home against Sri Lanka, which gave him five or more wickets in an innings in three successive Tests, an accomplishment Bangladesh’s old spin spearhead Mohammad Rafique would have been proud of.Those recent successes – and, no doubt, his ascent to the top of ICC rankings – have
led to his being repeatedly asked one particular question at press conferences: “Are
you a batting allrounder or a bowling allrounder?” The reply is part laconic, part
genuine uncertainty: “I am a cricketer.”Asked where he sees himself at the end of his career, he replies: “I never go by records, statistics and rankings. I believe one must take into account all aspects of the game. I want the world to remember me as proficient in all three categories – batting, bowling and fielding. Bowlers will think twice when I bat, similarly batsmen will be wary of my skills with the ball, and they will hesitate to take runs when the ball comes my way on the field.”The realisation of his dream will no doubt require Shakib to keep his feet firmly on
the ground despite all the adulation and acclaim. Will he be able to? He breaks into
a wry smile. “Cricket is not just my profession, it’s the only way I can realise my
other dreams. If I shine, everything will fall into place – the ranking will be
good, the rewards will flow in.”Self-satisfaction does not feature in Shakib’s dictionary, though he is proud to be
officially acknowledged as among the world’s best. It is not just the personal
achievement that is important to him but proving that someone from Bangladesh can
become the world’s top performer. The sky’s the limit, Shakib al Hasan says, and
he’s started his journey.

The pitches may have been dead and the referrals system may have raised more problems than it solved, but West Indies can congratulate themselves on the progress they have made

Vaneisa Baksh11-Mar-2009The series between West Indies and England sandwiched an enormous amount of dogged, laborious cricket between an astonishing beginning and a palpitating end. The magic dust of the morning of the fourth day of the first Test sprinkled the rest with the promise of more sorcery, and though the days were mainly long, hot and slow going, enough grams of it hung about the grounds to keep spectators going. True, there were more English than West Indian supporters, particularly in Antigua and Barbados, but there was something for everyone, and it wasn’t long before watchers of all persuasions sniffed out a competition they had not expected.A look at the series cannot ignore the tomfoolery that passed for cricket management at the Viv Richards Stadium for the second Test. As much as we would like to put it behind us, the series has ended with nary a word of the consequences that should follow such acts of gross negligence and incompetence.
But the shameful abandonment of the match affected watchers more profoundly, it seemed, than it did the players. Resolutely they gathered at the ARG and the game was on in a salutarily short time, and for many the question was why the ARG was abandoned in the first place, when all it seemed to need was proper maintenance.After the Sabina Park victory, the series became a source of celebrations at many levels. It might be worth the time to consider: what really were West Indians celebrating? It was a lifting of spirits over a series that went on longer in terms of days and matches, and yielded more tension and repetitiveness, than anticipated.What set it all up was Jerome Taylor at Sabina. England at 51 all out never recovered, no matter how doggedly they pursued the task. And they were dogged. Poor Andrew Strauss rose with his bat throughout, but never yielded at the right moment, never took the gambler’s chance, and found his coaches turning back into pumpkins promptly at stumps at the end of each overdrawn match.He was relying on a West Indies history that suggested a will so weakened that it would be daunted into easy capitulation by massive totals. Perhaps he was guilty of underestimating the team in his anxiety to prepare for the Ashes. Certainly West Indies played more resolutely than recent memory would have predicted, but then the pitches were so placid that all batsmen rejoiced.These were high-scoring games on account of the pitches, and without detracting from the honest scoreboard’s recognitions of feats and records, so many centuries were notched that any batsman who missed out simply hadn’t the belly to stick to the task or was undone by the controversial referral system, which has bemused more than clarified cricket decisions.

West Indies have come a long way, if you consider that the last celebration was over the fact that they could last the five days of a match. What we have seen different is that they’ve learned how to survive. They’ve learned some measure of perseverance

Bowling suffered during these games. Fidel Edwards looked pumped up and was putting something of a snort into most deliveries, but often he seemed frustrated by the unresponsive pitches. Taylor shone as promised but then was pulled up short by injury; he too might have lost zeal due to the dull surfaces. Sulieman Benn was curiously dropped for the final match, and one had to wonder if West Indies’ use of eight bowlers in the first innings was not a silent protest by the captain at the limp options on offer.The atmosphere was pallid and listless, and as it seemed in the other matches, the fielding lacked winners’ intensity. Dwayne Bravo was terribly missed, sparkling as he did whenever he was on the field. It didn’t seem that England should have been allowed to repeat the formula that applied throughout this series: two days of batting and a formidable score, then West Indies go in and match it, before the last day petered out in a draw.Yet it was Test cricket of a different sort, at least for West Indies, who have come a long way if you consider that the last celebration was over the fact that they could last the five days of a match. What we have seen different is that they’ve learned how to survive. They’ve learned some measure of perseverance.Two figures behind the scenes who may have contributed to this new capacity to go to the wire are the coach, John Dyson, under whose watch fitness seems to have improved. It was most obvious in the fruition of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who deserved his Man-of-the-Series award. Sarwan was beautiful to watch (as was Kevin Pietersen), and it was as if he had come to the maturity that his potential has promised – for some seemingly long but actually short years. Denesh Ramdin looked as if he had been finally given a shaking and some of his cobwebs were beginning to be shredded. Maybe his fitness has reached the point where his capacity to concentrate has improved.The other figure is the manager, Omar Khan, who has had a very good track record with Trinidad and Tobago, and I believe has contributed significantly to the general approach to the game, as well as to the sense of camaraderie and support.Chris Gayle, people say, inspires his team by being more one of them. It is clear that he is able to keep tension levels down as far as interactions go. Remember how incensed Edwards seemed when Gayle declared and Edwards had to drop his pads and go out and warm up quickly in Barbados? But Gayle got him to cool down and deliver in those high-energy spells he delivered right before the close of play.Taylor made the decisive difference in the only match that wasn’t negated by a dead pitch•AFPPlayers who really shone, for me, would be Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Gayle, Taylor, Edwards, Benn and Brendan Nash. Ramdin improved. Gayle and Chanderpaul were basically the same; the others seemed to stride forward a few important notches.The return of the Wisden Trophy was something to celebrate. Hopefully it will not be lost when England hosts West Indies in a couple of months, but the possibility is that an entirely new set-up will be faced on different surfaces, and injured English players will have returned to the fold.A couple of interesting dilemmas arose again. Should West Indies, as Ian Bishop and Michael Holding keep imploring, set up continuous fast-bowling clinics? Or should they be bowling clinics that equally nurture both spin/slow and fast?Why were the pitches as flat as they were? Should West Indies be investing in developing the pitch quality that seems to survive in Australia? The global complaint has been about dead pitches: batsmen’s havens that have reduced the value of runs and taken away the element of excitement that genuinely good fast bowling injects. Is this widespread trend of flat pitches something to be accepted or railed against?I’d always vote for watching a match that gives something to bowler and batsman. We saw thousands of runs scored in this series, but you have to admit that the thrills were muted on account of the pitches. Poor fielding and bizarre referral results didn’t do anything to add to the games, but all in all it seemed the teams had met their match, and surely, given their positions in the rankings, that must be a comfort to one and a whole heap of worries to the other.

Stats highlights from the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

S Rajesh03-Aug-2009In his 17 previous ODI innings Mahela Jayawardene had scored one half-century, four ducks, and averaged 15.11•AFP

• The 202-run partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga is the third-highest for the first wicket for Sri Lanka in ODIs, and their highest at home. Their highest overall is 286, against England at Leeds in 2006. Of the five 200-plus opening stands for Sri Lanka, Tharanga has been involved in three. It’s also Sri Lanka’s first double-century opening stand without the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya.
• Jayawardene’s glorious 123 ended a barren run in ODIs: in his 17 previous ODI innings he had an average of 15.11, with one half-century and four ducks. This was also only his second ODI innings as an opener. In his previous effort – against Zimbabwe in Harare in November 2008 – he had failed to get off the mark.
• Dambulla has traditionally been a difficult venue for batting, but in this game both Pakistan and Sri Lanka scored totals that hadn’t been scored at this ground. In 28 previous ODIs in Dambulla, the highest score had been 282, by Sri Lanka against India in 2004. India chased it bravely, but fell short by 12 runs. Those were the two highest ODI totals here before today.
• The win also ended a poor run for Sri Lanka in ODI series at home – they had lost their last three, against England and twice against India. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s results in home ODI series.)
• The pitch was so good for batting that even Muttiah Muralitharan leaked plenty of runs – in ten overs he conceded 64, which is the second-highest number of runs he has conceded in a home ODI. The highest is 66, against India earlier this year. In terms of economy rates, this comes in at third place among his most expensive spells at home. Click here for the full list.
• It was also a bad game for Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s most consistent spinner. He leaked 7.50 runs per over, his most expensive spell in almost two years. Against India in Kanpur in November 2007, he had conceded 57 in seven, a rate of 8.14 per over. Since then, in 30 ODIs before this one, only twice did he concede more than six runs per over.

Stats highlights from the first day of the Kanpur Test

S Rajesh24-Nov-2009Virender Sehwag has been involved in five 200-plus opening stands•AFP The first couple of sessions on the opening day was almost entirely about Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, and their 233-run opening partnership. It’s only the ninth 200-plus opening partnership for India, and the third highest. Sehwag and Gambhir became the first Indian pair to get two double-century stands for the first wicket – their earlier such effort had come at the same venue almost exactly five years ago, when they added 218 against South Africa in a high-scoring draw in November 2004. In fact, Sehwag has been involved in five of those nine doubles – Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer have been his other partners. The Sehwag-Gambhir pair is fast climbing the rungs among the all-time opening pairs. During the course of this stand they went past the aggregates of a couple of English pairs – Trescothick-Vaughan and Atherton-Gooch – and are 12th in terms of partnership runs by opening pairs. Among Indian pairs, Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan have scored more, but they are only 506 runs in front. Sehwag and Gambhir are also one of only 12 pairs – and the first Indians – to have two or more double-century stands for the opening wicket. Among opening pairs with at least 2000 partnership runs, only four pairs average more than Sehwag and Gambhir’s 59.61.

Best opening pairs in Tests (Qual: 2000 runs)

PairInningsRunsAverage100/ 50 standsHobbs-Sutcliffe38324987.8115/ 10Hobbs-Rhodes36214661.318/ 5Lawry-Simpson62359660.949/ 18Hutton-Washbrook51288060.008/ 13Gambhir-Sehwag43250459.616/ 13 Equally impressive is the rate at which Gambhir and Sehwag score their runs – their average run rate is 4.68, which is the highest among all opening pairs who’ve faced at least 1500 balls. (Click here for the full list.) Gambhir outstanding Test form continues unabated – it’s his seventh century in his last nine Tests, a run which started with the second Test against Australia last year. During this period, he averages 93.81, with 11 fifty-plus scores in 17 innings. It was also Gambhir’s fourth hundred in successive Tests – he’d got a couple in New Zealand and a 114 in the first Test in Ahmedabad. That makes him only the third Indian batsman – after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid – to score centuries in four successive Tests. (Click here for the full list.) The table below shows how the openers, and the entire team, scored their runs on the opening day. Sehwag and Gambhir struck 27 fours during their stand, but what also stands out is the number of singles they ran – 71 of them. They also ran two threes, which none of the other batsmen managed. They only played 133 dot balls, which is 53% of the total balls they faced. Overall, the Indians played 308 dots, which is almost 57% of the total deliveries.

The Gambhir-Sehwag partnership, and India’s overall run-scoring pattern

DotsSingles2s/ 3s4s/ 6sBat runsBalls facedRun rateOpening partnership1337116/ 227/ 22292515.47Indiaon the first day30815931/ 241/ 24035434.45 For Sri Lanka, the day was bitterly disappointing. Ajantha Mendis was toothless, and while Muttiah Muralitharan conceding 100 runs in 18 overs. If he continues leaking runs at this rate, it’ll be his most expensive bowling performance in an innings in which he’s bowled more than two overs.

With the World Cup in sight, what matters is that Sri Lanka are slowly beginning to find men who are soaking up the pressure and learning to deliver

Sriram Veera at the Shere Bangla National Stadium05-Jan-2010Never mind that Sri Lanka’s win came in a tournament struggling to find a context and a meaning, but in the bigger picture, and with the World Cup near, this victory has a special significance. It got much closer than it should have, especially after Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera appeared to be in complete control, but a sweet aftertaste followed once they overcame the threat of choking.Sri Lanka have, of late, been found wanting in pressure situations, especially against India. They come painfully close to the finish line but catch the yips and fall short. It happened in Rajkot and Cuttack during the ODI series in India recently, and during matches in Sri Lanka as well.But with the World Cup in sight, what matters is that they are slowly beginning to find men who are soaking up the pressure and learning to deliver. Last time they won a close game was in Nagpur, when Angelo Matthews finished the game. Tonight Samaraweera, helped by a blinder from Thissara Perera, pushed them past the line. Just like in Nagpur, the finish was tighter than it should have been.The choke started in the familiar manner with a soft dismissal. When Sangakkara slammed a wide delivery from Harbhajan Singh to cover, things began to look eerily familiar. Thilina Kandamby fell to a fatal slog sweep soon after and the required rate started to climb. The panic had definitely set in as Samaraweera went for some risky shots, dashed for dangerous singles and interestingly, kept delaying the batting Powerplay.The build-up suggested that the Powerplay could be the make-or-break factor in the match. The field restrictions, which gives the team batting first an invitation to plunder runs, can turn into a catalyst for choking in close finishes. The batsmen, seeing the close-in fielders, think singles aren’t possible and often get out with risky hitting over the field. Even tonight, Sri Lanka were nervy at the start of the five-over block requiring 56 from 42 balls to win. Did they take the Powerplay too late? Considering the havoc that it normally unleashes on teams lacking in confidence while chasing, did they take it a touch early?Samaraweera backed away the first ball and was nearly run out attempting a non-existent single, but Ravindra Jadeja missed the stumps. Off the third ball, he again moved outside leg, looking for a big hit, and the ball went off his pad to MS Dhoni. More panic. Randiv charged across for a quick run but slipped while turning back, to be run out.It was now all up to Samaraweera, or so one thought. Fortunately, for him and Sri Lanka, it wasn’t the case. Perera, aged just 20 and two ODIs old, caned the bowlers for some big boundaries to lift the pressure off Samaraweera. India helped their cause with some tripe bowling in the end and Sri Lanka got home with two overs to spare.Sangakkara said, “Thissara’s inexperience and Samaraweera’s experience really worked for us. We knew we had a chance if Thilan kept batting and Perera comes off. He [Perera] has got no fears, which is good to see. Sometimes it can happen that a bowling attack might get confused where to bowl when a new player you have not seen much of comes to bat in these situations.”Sangakkara was delighted with the win, which arrived after some close defeats in India. “We have six guys in the team with less than six games of experience,” he said. “We have to trust the players and give them the opportunities and sometimes they surprise you with the ability. In all senses, it was a really important win.”