Time for another feather?
Ranjan Mellawa weighs Sri Lanka’s prospects at the World Test Championship
Ireland, the newest entrant to Test cricket, had a magical first day in their maiden game against England at the home of cricket recently. Calling all the shots at the end of the second day, they needed only 182 runs for what might have been the greatest upset in the history of Test cricket. But on the third morning, they succumbed to a paltry 38 and lost by 143 runs! Though Ireland will not feature in the inaugural World Test Championship, which kicked off on 1 August with the Ashes series in England, can their performance inspire Sri Lanka to another fairytale finish?
Sri Lanka boasts a credible Test record leading up to the World Test Championship – surprisingly rosier than their white ball cricket performance. Having played 22 Tests in nine series over two years with seven away and two at home, they broke even by winning and losing eight Tests each. Strikingly, six of the wins were away from home.
The team will play six series in the inaugural World Test Championship comprising 13 Test matches in all. Sri Lanka played their first series against New Zealand in August, and will probably host Bangladesh and England as well. Their away series are against Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies. Other than the Bangladesh series, which will consist of three games, the rest will consist of two games each.
Sixth in the Test rankings at the beginning of the championship, Sri Lanka surpassed all expectations and whitewashed third ranked South Africa in the last series – they became the first Asian side to win a Test series in that country. Sri Lanka also whitewashed Pakistan in 2017 in the UAE and inflicted their first series defeat.
In the following year, Sri Lanka were the first Asian team to win a Test in Barbados. Had they not wasted two hours protesting a ball tampering charge in the previous game, the Sri Lankans may have been series winners against the West Indies.
Team Sri Lanka’s best Test performances have been against Bangladesh – of the 20 matches played so far, the scorecard shows 16 wins against one loss.
Sri Lanka’s 0-3 loss against England last year could have easily been a 2-1 victory if not for the proverbial slip between the cup and the lip. Two games that were in their grasp were lost by 57 and 42 runs, accentuated by a spate of missed chances.
Similarly in 2018, following an honourable draw in the first Test against New Zealand and having the Black Caps reeling at 64 for 6 at the start of the second, Sri Lanka let the game slip away and lost the match.
In this edition of the World Test Championship, Sri Lanka will not be pitted against the two cricketing giants – India and Australia. It may be because a ‘weaker’ Sri Lanka wouldn’t do justice to their financial potential. This may work in our favour since the Sri Lankans have a poor Test record against both countries with a winning percentage of only 15.9 and 12.9 respectively.
Sri Lanka’s Achilles’ heel since 2015 has been poor fielding though they have shown signs of improvement in the recent past. It’s an age-old cliché but cricket is still a game of glorious uncertainties. Having said that, will Sri Lanka’s most recent encounters with their scheduled opponents be a barometer of their success at the championship?
Off field upheavals have been part and parcel of the island’s cricket for over two decades. If the players can put the distractions aside and commit themselves, it’s quite possible that Sri Lanka stands up and chants once more come 2021: ‘We are the champions!’
Off field upheavals have been part and parcel of the island’s cricket for over two decades