The Sri Lanka team was known for its consistency in the limited over format. The Island nation considered as the giants of the white ball cricket. Eventually they have won 50 Over World Cup and made it to the finals in the 2011 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
But over the last few years the Sri Lanka team has struggle to give competition to the other teams across the globe. Sri Lanka team has lost all its matches against India and Pakistan in the last few years.
In this article will look at the major reasons behind their struggle in limited over format of the game.
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Retirement of star players
Sri Lanka team lost its two batting giants- Kumar Sangakara and Mahela Jayawardene, in just one go. With the retirement of these two stalwarts the team began to struggle. These both players scored maximum runs for the team in the decade. After the 2015 men’s cricket world cup they both retired and after year there all rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan also said good bye to international cricket.
Cricket Sri Lanka has find difficult to replace these players. They team lack quality batting and had struggle to score big runs when batting first and find it difficult to chase small targets as well.
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Malinga’s downfall
Lasith Malinga, is one of the best Limited over bowler in the history of cricket. He has led the Island nation to many memorable victories. Lasith Malinga had some injury concerns since the start of his career but with age no his side, they need to look for new bunch of Fast-Bowlers.
Malinga is regarded as the best death bowler in the history. He has got accurate yorkers and disguised slower balls. Malinga space has declined over the years and most of the batsman have seem to work on his action and how to counter his bowling. Malinga’s downfall is directly responsible for huge scores conceded by Sri Lanka team.
Poor match awareness
With the lack of experienced players in the side, the Sri Lanka team finds it difficult to decide the kind of approach to adapt in a particular situation. It is often seen with the Sri Lankan team that they lose wickets in a cluster. No one takes responsibility to bat deep .
The Sri Lanka team has struggled to score runs on a flat track too. The Sri Lanka team has been rebuilding since 2015.
Lack of penetration in bowling
The Sri Lanka team has find difficult to replace Malinga. There is no substitute for an effective bowling attack. Allthoug they have good bunch of mystery spinners but fast bowling is something that any International Team requires to excel in Non-Asian conditions.
Sri Lanka did not produce any effective medium pacer who can be lethal in his spell. Many quicker bowlers have come and gone just because the batsman have find enough ways to counter them. Although they have produced quality spinners in this rebuilding time tweakers like Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dhananjay and Vandersay are promising spinners. But spinners won’t get much purchase in SENA Countries.
Also Read : Top 5 spinners in Test Cricket History
Prolonged troubles of Angelo Mathews hiring Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews, one of the premier all rounders Sri Lanka ever produced. After the retirement of the the batting legends of the, Angelo Mathews emerged as the best batsman for them. He is counted amongst the best batsman in the world and he is a consistent bowler.
Injuries have posed Angelo Mathews to give up is bowling and he has been struggling with his form after the 2017 Champions Trophy. In the 2017 Champions Trophy he played as a pure batsman and Sri Lanka missed the services of his bowling. His lack of form and prolonged injuries have made them struggled in the Limited over formats.
In the month of July ,the Indian team will tour the Island Nation for the white ball series. Let’s hope that we can get a good show form the Young Sri Lankan Team.
Do check this out : 3 New Players to look out for in India vs Sri Lanka 2021