SRI TRI - SERIES FINAL - IND VS SRI

India were always in danger once they made their "best player", Ravindra Jadeja sit out! On a serious note, finally, some sense prevailed. But many inexplicable facts came to the fore as the game progressed.India opened the bowling with Munaf instead of Nehra, a ppor decision as Nehra gets the new ball to swing.
Still, with Patel looking good, he was handed over a change of ends and Nehra was introduced into the attack.After 5 overs in the spell, Patel was removed though he had beautifully managed to keep the Sri Lankan openers in check.
Ishant started well but as has been the norm, he was thrashed in his very second over owing to the lack of variations in his bowling. Nehra's efforts were disappointing to say the least as he bowled short and wide regularly, though he has carried the bowling responsibilities well throughout the series. Meanwhile, Sri Lankans found themselves in a strong position as the openers took them past the 100 mark in the 16th over. A leading edge resulted in the fall of Jayawardene bringing Tharanga to the crease.Tharanga ended his miserable tour on a sombre note as Sri Lanka lost two wickets in quick succession. Dhoni, once again, did not attack the new batsman, Sangakkara, placing too many fielders at the boundaries which allowed Sri Lankans to keep the scoreboard ticking. Sangakkara and Dilshan batted very sensibly indeed,taking no undue risks off the part time bowlers. Finally, Sangakkara broke free in the 35th over with Sri Lanka in total control, smacking Sehwag over the top.Dilshan reached his hundered in the 37th over, much to his relief as his form hassnt been the best in the series.

It is really bemusing to see Nehra not happy with other guys when they misfield off his bowling! Nehra's fielding is not a secret and it is as bad as ever witnessed in the game of cricket.It was good to see Ishant trying some slower deliveries in his second spell, something he should dish out to the batsmen more often.
Once again, the pull shot proved to be Dilshan's downfall.Accurate short stuff seems to get him into trouble more often than not.Anyways, it was a very fine innings from him,giving Sri Lanka a fantastic launchpad to rocket to a big score.
Yorkers seem to be as alien to Indian bowlers as is functioning to ICC!Dunno what the bowlers work out in the nets, at the domestic levels and what keeps the coaching staff busy to overlook such a big gap.Kapugedera failed yet again and its time Sri Lankans gave the likes of Chandimal a look in.Munaf impressed with his bowling (though not with his attitude) as he removed a rampaging Sangakkara to give India a chance of restricting Sri Lanka to under 285, still a huge score.Yet, Sri Lankans managed to reach 299, a total they should find easy to defend once they made early inroads in the Indian batting line up under the conditions prevailing at Dambulla.

Indian innings started in a similar fashion as they lost Karthik early on, though it was due to umpiring error which once again enforces the need of technology to come into play and is a strong testimony of ICC's management and authority.
Sehwag rocketed off right from the word go, creaming both the Sri Lankan bowlers to boundaries.Malinga caused a few problems to Sehwag in the 5th over and the contest was a treat to watch.Much drama followed the very next over when Sri Lankans missed a run out of Sehwag though found him back in the pavillion on the 6th ball when the batsman was plumb in front,not given out but was roaming out of his crease and as a result,got runout!Yuvraj Singh was extremely lucky to survive on his very first ball due to another umpiring error, this time in India's favor.The predicatble captaincy of Sangakkara was on display again as he gave Malinga just 4 overs (yet again!) in his first spell.Next,Yuvraj again survived as he was caught behind of a dubious no ball from Matthews.After a couple of sparkling glimpses of the dashing and flamboyant Yuvraj of the old, another dubious umpiring decision saw India loose their third wicket.It was a relief to see Dhoni walking in at No.5 when the situation demanded someone who could anchor the innings, something he has not done in this series.It was a brave move from Sangakkara to introduce Perera before giving Kulusekera an 8 over spell (as he mostly does!), the decision taken, perhaps because of Perera's exploits in the previous match!

Just as India crossed the 100 run mark, Dhoni survived an LBW chance which the umpire percieved as an inside-edge.Virat had a rush of blood the very next over and paid big time for his ungainly stroke. He needs to develop a more all round batting (covers and square leg are the two regions he gathers most of his runs from) and look to play a long innings putting a heavy price tag on his wicket.
Raina came in next with India in deep trouble and in deperate need of a partnership.Raina is someone who blindly follows and supports his natural game, no matter what the situation demands.He smacked Perera for a six in the 8th ball of his innings.The duo played aggressively unlike the Sangakkara-Dilshan partnership, finding it difficult to score in singles and twos.Dhoni did settle in though every now and then, the ball found its way to the keeper past his edge.He began running out of partners fast as Rohit's dismal tour continued.He is one guy who has done the least justice with the talent he possesses.Dhoni was alert enough to call for the powerplay as it was a now or never situation.This kind of decisions are what we are more used to seeing from Dhoni.A twist in the tail seemed likely as Kumar got some quick runs before being bowled by a peach of a yorker from Malinga, leaving Dhoni stranded to wage a lone, almost ungainly battle, though considering his stature and reputation, Sri Lankans would have hardly breathed easily.Quite unexpectedly, Randiv was shown undue respect and attacked less often by Dhoni and he seemed to have lost all hope after the 44th over.The injured right hand and a pulled hamstring that he sustained might have a significant part in his sedate approach.The game ended in the 47th over, India handed a huge defeat by Sri Lanka.A meaningless series came to an end with Sri Lankan team emerging victorious.

Kumar Sangakkara deserves a special mention here.I have always considered NZ and Sri Lanka as the two teams who have mantained the spirit of cricket even in the changing times where aggression,sledging and positive attitute have become the buzz words.But the fast degrading attitude of the Sri Lankans does leave you utterly bewildered.Talking purely about the sportsmanship and the on-field behavior, Sri Lanka looked to be a notch above all others under the reign of Ranatunga,Attapatu and Jayawardene.The same cannot be said of now.
Sangakkara certainly leads from the front when it comes to some despicable and unworthy attitude.The way he applauds the bowler when the ball has been delivered miles away to distract the umpire and then the expression of disbelief on the ball being calle a wide is repulsive and disgusting.He pretends of being oblivious to the rules guarding the caught and LBW decisions as his dullard, unwieldy and gawky appeals suggest.Under his leadership, Dilshan,Randiv and Welegedera seem to be doing overtly fine in this department!Far from being the side always respected for their sportsmanship,Sri Lanka is waging a deplorable war desperately trying to catch up with the Pakistanis.It is hardly surprising when such behavior is witnessed as it appears quite a trivial matter in comparison to the complete lack of control and authority of ICC over world cricket.


The bee of overweening advertisements that had stung the IPL severely has now found its way into the international arena as well.Royal stag and Mc.Dowells advertisements were seen throughout the series during the match.Just as ICC has failed to enforce the review system and is just acting like a puppet,it has also failed to stop and control the unwarranted and unnecessary intervention of commercial world as a result, facing the petulance of dissatisfied viewer (Substantial crowds were hardly seen during the current competition).One would certainly like to,once again, witness pure,competitive,engrossing,entertaining and fair cricket.