This fixture was, of course, known in advance, but the stakes are somewhat surprising. Neither was it expected that India could be knocked out of their own party if they lose to West Indies nor was it expected that West Indies could go to the semi-finals if they win this match.

The expected result still is for India to overcome that one blip against South Africa and make it to the semi-finals. Then again, jeopardy and unpredictability are at the heart of this format.

The path to get here has been similar for both teams: a thumping loss to South Africa and a resounding win over Zimbabwe. Even their scores against Zimbabwe were nearly identical.

West Indies are one team India haven’t faced in their dominant run starting with the 2024 T20 World Cup. They are, in fact, the last team to have beaten India in a series way back in August 2023.

Both sides have improved since then. India are a well-oiled domination machine, West Indies have put together scary six-hitters who have happened to hit form. They have hit more sixes than any side at any T20 World Cup, and India are three behind them with 63 so far.

It is with the ball that India hold an advantage. India’s bowlers are match-winners. They have pace and mystery. It gives them room for error. West Indies are a strictly defensive bowling unit. They’ll need everything to go their way to get the better of India.

He might have taken just 26 balls to get there against Zimbabwe, but it was Abhishek Sharma’s  second-slowest fifty in T20Is. That’s because he had scored just 15 runs in the first four matches, which made him take his time against offspin, scoring just 13 off 17 balls against that style of bowling. That makes Roston Chase an important player even though he went for 46 against South Africa. He is the only spinner in the West Indies squad who takes his stock ball away from left-hand batters; India have five of them in their top eight.

South Africa have had a near-perfect tournament so far. Fifty games in, they are the only unbeaten side in this 20-team T20 World Cup and are poised to enter the semi-finals with a spotless record. On Sunday, Aiden Markram’s men will meet their neighbours Zimbabwe, who last beat South Africa in international cricket way back in 2000. Overall, Zimbabwe have beaten South Africa just twice in 58 completed international matches.

Apart from history, the conditions and recent form are also against Zimbabwe. After toppling Australia and Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe have struggled across the board in India. Having suffered back-to-back defeats on flatter pitches at the Wankhede and Chepauk, Zimbabwe were knocked out of contention for the semi-finals.

Those of us who have earned our bread and butter from this grand old game have a duty to guard its gates. Cricket has been our benefactor; we cannot now let the grass grow under our feet and drift into mediocrity. Wednesday night’s painful exit from the T20 World Cup left 35,000 fans at the ground shell-shocked, while millions more switched off their televisions hoping it was all a bad dream. Sri Lanka are better than this.

When Pramodya Wickramasinghe and Dasun Shanaka were brought back to spearhead the national selection panel and the team respectively, there were murmurs in cricketing corridors that the move could boomerang. Those warnings were brushed aside. Today, the heat is being felt in the boardrooms.

Shanaka’s elevation never quite passed the straight-face test. He had been dropped for poor returns and since his comeback was scrapping to hold onto his place in the XI. To fast-track him to the captaincy was a gamble that has now backfired. The argument that he was “trustworthy” and “obedient” to the authorities hardly forms the blueprint of great leadership.

Sri Lanka’s finest skippers – Bandula Warnapura, Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara – were never nodding puppets. They did not always see eye to eye with administrators, but strong leaders seldom do. That friction, at times, sharpened the blade rather than blunt it.

It was widely known that Shanaka’s tactical acumen would be tested under fire. What has startled many, even within his own establishment, is the decision to bowl first in a must-win clash against New Zealand, a call that raised eyebrows and in some quarters, questions about judgment and conviction. On surfaces where scoreboard pressure is king, Sri Lanka blinked first. You never bowl first at RPS. It’s always a bat first track.

The selectors, too, must front up over the late drama surrounding Dhananjaya de Silva’s inclusion on the eve of the tournament. It smacked of muddled thinking. When tried and tested policies are abandoned at the eleventh hour, you often end up padding up without a plan. An opportunity to back clarity and continuity was squandered.

To be fair, Sri Lanka Cricket faced a Hobson’s choice in appointing a chief selector, with few eager to walk into a thankless job. Yet stability might have served them better. Upul Tharanga had steadied the ship and deserved a longer rope rather than another shake up that unsettled the dressing room.

Finger pointing, however, will not mend broken campaigns. If the game we cherish is to thrive, solutions must replace soundbites. The recurring injury cloud is a glaring concern. This is not the first global event Wanindu Hasaranga has missed and as former captain Marvan Atapattu queried in these columns, should SLC rethink the volume of No Objection Certificates handed out for franchise leagues? You cannot flog your thoroughbreds year-round and expect them fresh for the big dance.

Playing spin has long been Sri Lanka’s Achilles heel. The emergence of Pavan Rathnayake has offered a glimmer of hope, his nimble footwork and soft hands suggesting a player cut from sturdier cloth. But one swallow does not make a summer. The talent pool must be widened and deepened.

Then there is the Lanka Premier League, a tournament that has promised much but delivered in fits and starts. Constant ownership changes and questionable investors have left it looking like a ship without a steady captain. SLC cannot have their cake and eat it. If the LPL is merely a cash cow, the national side will pay the price. If it is to be a genuine pathway to the Sri Lanka cap, then profits may need trimming in favour of purpose. The bigger picture is preparing cricketers hardened enough for the global arena.

Finally, the idea of a fully-fledged Cricket Academy deserves some thinking. Former cricket chief Hemaka Amarasuriya was keen on such a venture, not merely to polish cover drives and yorkers, but to mould character. Cricketing education must extend beyond the boundary rope. Discipline, resilience and decision-making are as vital as strike rates and economy figures.

by Rex Clementine