Last night seeing Srilanka play the semifinals to a scripted perfection it was impossible not to think again about what went wrong with indian cricket. The selection of Greg Chappel over Tom Moody was possibly an emotional one as we indian fans and cricket administrators are prone to hero worship instead of cool calculated thinking about performance analysis.
A few things really stand out in Lankan team management.
The way they have groomed their talent, biggest example is Malinga. With his action he could have fallen pray to wayward bowling under a different management. His first few overs in Semifinal were really stuff dreams are made of. The pitch map was showcasing the results of efforts that may have been put in by bowler and the coach.
The seniors in and out of the team still play their role and take responsibility by giving 110% on the field. Murali was so intent on catching that he didnt hear even a no ball call. Person of stature of Marvan Attapattu is made to sit out all through the world cup and there is no leak in press about this and that.
Just imagine that one of your big hopes like Dilhara Fernando really falls apart in the middle of a crucial phase and still the captain and the team manage to get themselves out of that hole.
Hats off to the Srilankan team, coach and management.
I hope this time around somewhere in BCCI the wiseheads will learn from hindsight.
