The Hindu : Sport : Sri Lanka's genuine spirit to the fore

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Saturday, Apr 14, 2007
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Sri Lanka's genuine spirit to the fore

Jayawardene and Moody have moulded a wholehearted and skilful outfit

Unstinting support from senior players has helped Jayawardene, writes PETER ROEBUCK

— Photo: AFP

TOTAL TEAM EFFORT: Sri Lanka's success can be attributed to Mahela Jayawardene and Tom Moody, who have complemented each other well, and seniors like the crafty Muttiah Muralitharan.

Sri Lanka deserves its place alongside the three other potential winners in the later stages of this longwinded World Cup.

Mahela Jayawardene's team has played bright cricket, dashing around energetically, bowling with pace and spin and showing every sign of enjoying itself.

Whereas other sides from the region arrived with a head full of concerns, the Lankans have been cheerful and ready to risk everything on the roll of a dice.

Far from being a backslapping artifice, their spirit seems genuine and has sustained them in several close finishes.

World within a world

Whereas India looked hangdog and Pakistan remains an uneasy compromise, the Lankans have played with attractive simplicity. Yet they, too, brought complications with them, not least a civil war raging in northern areas.

Evidently the trick is to create a world within a world. Perhaps sport itself ought to restore that principle.

Jayawardene and Tom Moody must be congratulated for producing a wholehearted and skilful outfit at exactly the right moment. As horse and human trainers could confirm, the tricky part of preparing any sportsman lies in the timing.

Luck has a part to play in the operation. Judgement and patience also matter. Sri Lanka's leaders remained calm in bad spells and never strayed far from their plan.

Sri Lanka's strength lies in two vital areas. Clearly the relationship between captain and coach has worked well. Neither man was an obvious appointment.

Jayawardene resembled a spoilt child till the leadership fell into his hands whereupon he followed in the footsteps of Prince Hal by accepting his responsibilities, realising the need to change and revealing unsuspected maturity and nerve. He is a fine tactician and has managed to turn a group containing seasoned campaigners and lively youngsters into a fighting force.

Proven coach

Moody counts amongst the name's foremost coaches and India was foolish to reject him. He is a proven coach as well as an intelligent, tough and sensitive man. Greg Chappell is better suited to an advisory capacity because he has so many ideas and eventually leaves players behind. Alas India lacked the sense to choose a lesser-known man with a better track record.

Australia long ago accepted that coaching is a specialist job requiring particular skills. Ravi Shastri commands respect but his successor ought to come from within the ranks of domestic cricket.

Sri Lanka's other strength lies with its senior players. For a long time India was sustained by an impressive collection of older hands but that time has passed. Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Kumar Sangakkara and Murali have been the core of the side.

Setting the tone

It is the task of senior players to set the tone. If the elders lose interest or else seek merely to preserve their careers or start to complain, then the youngsters will lose their idealism that drives. Always in sport it is a question of giving everything and taking only your desserts.

Jayawardene has been lucky with his older players. None of them envied his promotion. From the outset they gave unstinting support. No less importantly they remained hungry, and did not rely on reputation or popular support to protect their places.

Moreover these musketeers occupy influential positions in the line-up, opening the batting and bowling, taking wickets in the middle of the innings and bolstering the batting with combative contributions. No wonder the greenhorns look up to them.

Can Sri Lanka go all the way? All things are possible but I remain convinced that a new name will be inscribed on the Cup on April 28th.

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