Sports
Asalanka’s masterclass: A Test captain in the making
by Rex Clementine
When the ICC announced the ODI Team of the Year for 2024 last month, there was a pleasant surprise – Charith Asalanka was chosen as captain, ahead of battle-hardened leaders like Pat Cummins, Rohit Sharma and Jos Buttler, who had all won the World Cup for their respective countries. The selection panel, a mix of former players and journalists, must have seen something extraordinary in him to hand him the reins. And on Wednesday, under the floodlights of RPS, he showed us why, leading Sri Lanka to a morale-boosting win over Australia after the bruising Test series.
A poya day, a Sri Lankan win, and the Aussies struggling against spin – what more could fans ask for? While the stands weren’t bursting at the seams, thousands were glued to their TV screens, watching Sri Lanka turn the tide and reminding the Aussies that, despite their cricketing pedigree, playing spin in our backyard is still a bridge too far for them. There’s no better feeling in sports than to beat the Aussies.
Defending 215 was always going to be a tough ask. By Asalanka’s own admission, he had hoped for at least 270, but he adapted brilliantly, handling the game like a seasoned pro. His dismissal of the ever-dangerous Alex Carey was a captain’s dream. Carey, a prolific sweeper, was lured into a false sense of security as Asalanka cleverly took the pace off the ball, making the shot riskier. The inevitable happened—Carey mistimed one and Sri Lanka were back in business.
But Asalanka’s leadership wasn’t just about his own performance; it was about reading the game and making bold calls. Wanindu Hasaranga, the team’s premier bowler, wasn’t quite landing them where the team needed. Many captains would have hesitated to pull their trump card out of the attack, but Asalanka? He didn’t blink. He quickly switched to another spin option, showing that he isn’t afraid to make the tough calls – even if it means telling his best bowler to get lost.
What truly sets Asalanka apart is his man-management. He’s tactically sharp, but more importantly, he understands his players. That’s where Dhananjaya de Silva faltered in the Test series – waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen. Cricket, much like life, favours the brave, and Asalanka seems to know that instinctively.
If Sri Lanka hands him the full-time captaincy across formats, it could be the start of something special. Just look at what he did for SSC last week. The country’s premier cricket club is staring at relegation, a fate unthinkable in years gone by. For all of MJ’s tactical brilliance during his playing days, his tenures post-retirement – whether with the national team or SSC – have been, to put it mildly, disastrous.
But Asalanka wasn’t about to let SSC go down without a fight. In their last First-Class game, he scored a century and then, with his part-time off-spin, picked up a staggering ten-wicket match haul – sending down more than 50 overs in the process! This isn’t Muralitharan we’re talking about. This is a batter who bowls a bit of off-spin, yet he put his body on the line for his club. If he brings that same passion to the national team, Sri Lanka could be in for a revival.
And let’s talk about his batting on Wednesday – it was unreal. After yet another batting collapse, Sri Lanka looked down and out, but Asalanka orchestrated a rescue act that was a joy to watch. The way he farmed the strike with Eshan Malinga at the other end, ensuring the innings went deep, was pure cricketing intelligence. Then came the calculated risks – targeting the right bowlers at the right moments. He couldn’t have executed it better.
The mood in Sri Lanka after the Test series drubbing was gloomy, but Asalanka has given fans a reason to believe again. If he leads Sri Lanka to a series win, the selectors should waste no time in handing him the captaincy across all formats heading into the next World Test Championship cycle.
Sri Lanka need a leader who can take the game by the scruff of the neck, someone who doesn’t just react to the opposition but forces them to react to him. Charith Asalanka might just be that man.
Zimbabwe nosed ahead of Bangladesh after the second day’s play of the first Test in Sylhet with half-centuries from Brian Benett and Sean Williams Their lower order and tail also resisted to add 80 runs for the last four wickets that got them a lead of 82. They finished the day by breaking Bangladesh’s opening stand, and the hosts are still 25 runs behind.
Bangladesh’s solace came in the form of Mehidy Hasan Miraz ‘s first five-wicket haul at home in nearly two-and-a-half years. He finished with 5 for 52 after speedster Nahid Rana picked up three wickets, including those of the openers. Zimbabwe strung together small partnerships after the opening stand of 69, often dominating periods of play.
Bangladesh lost Shadman Islam in the evening for 4 in the fourth over, when a superb Blessing Muzarabani delivery had him edging to second slip. His opening partner Mahmdul Hasan Joy got a reprieve on 6 in the following over when wicketkeeper Nyasha Mayavo dropped a regulation chance to his right.
Mahmudul finished the day unbeaten on 28, while Mominul Haque was on 15 when play was called off at 5.33pm.
Rana earlier gave Bangladesh their first breakthrough when he banged in a bouncer towards Ben Curran’s chest. The left-hand opener only managed to tap it to short leg where Mominul completed the catch diving forward. It ended Zimbabwe’s impressive opening stand that lasted 16.5 overs.
Rana then bowled a fuller delivery to get rid of Bennett, the other opener. Bennett was piercing the off-side field regularly, hitting eight of his ten boundaries in the range between backward point and cover. But when he looked to cut another ball square, it led to his downfall as he edged one behind on 57.
Hasan Mahmud joined in the act with a peach of an inswinger against No. 3 Nick Welch, who was bowled through the gate for 2. Captain Craig Ervine and Williams, Zimbabwe’s most experienced pair, steadied things for the next hour. They added 41 runs in 15 overs, before Rana had Ervine caught behind for 8.
It was another short ball that reared up high on Ervine, who couldn’t get his bat out of the way. The ball brushed the face of his bat and he was caught behind by Jaker Ali. Williams forged another promising stand, this time with Wessly Madhevere, in the course of which Williams reached his fourth Test fifty. He did that in style too, sweeping Taijul Islam for a six and a four to reach the landmark.
The 48-run partnership however ended when Madhevere played on to a Khaled Ahmed delivery, on 24. Williams too couldn’t kick on, mistiming a straight hit against Mehidy, caught by a tumbling Mahmudul running back from mid-off. Williams bent down in disbelief as he looked very well set, having scored 59 off 108 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes.
Despite all their frontline batters back in the pavilion, Zimbabwe continued to fight. Mayavo made an enterprising 35 off 54 balls, including five fours, but he fell shortly after tea when Mehidy trapped him lbw. Wellington Masakadza played out 42 balls for his 6, and became Mehidy’s third victim, caught at cover.
The tall pair of Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava then took on the Bangladesh bowlers in a 36-run ninth-wicket stand. Muzarabani struck two fours and a massive six, over long-on, during his 17 off 16. Ngarava was unbeaten on 28 off 44 balls, including a lovely straight hit for a six off Mehidy. The offspinner finished things off when he had Muzarabani stumped and Victor Nyauchi caught in the covers, to complete his five-for.
Brief sores:
Bangladesh 191 in 61 overs and 57 for 1 in 1 overs (Mahmudul Hasan Joy 28*, Mominul Haque 15*, Blessing Muzarabani 1-21) trail Zimbabwe 273 in 80.2 overs (Sean Williams 59, Brian Bennett 57, Wessley Madhevere 24. Nyasha Mayavo 35, Richard Ngarava 28*; Nahid Rana 3-74, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-52) by 25 runs
[Cricinfo]
Despite losing the last time they batted first, Gujarat Titans (GT) stuck with their tried and tested method of starting calmly, assessing the conditions and minimising risk. The result this time was a total of 198 for 3 on a tricky surface, a total they defended with ease against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to consolidate their lead at the top of the table.
Led by Shubman Gill’s 90 off 55, the GT top three again did the bulk of the scoring, scoring 183 runs among them, after the second-slowest powerplay of this IPL for a side not losing a wicket. On a pitch that had just enough to discourage fluent stroke-play, Gill and Bhardwaj Sai Sudarshan relied on rotation of strike and the occasional onslaught. They added 114 for the first wicket before Jos Buttler provided the finishing touches with 41 off 23.
There were still doubts if GT had left a few runs out in the middle, but their relentless bowling extracted enough from the pitch to vindicate the batting approach and set up a big win by 39 runs.
In their young existence, GT have always played like peak Chennai Super Kings (CSK), trusting their batters to make decisions in the middle and investing in bowlers who reduce the need to take high risks when they are batting. They are the second-slowest team in the powerplay this IPL, but also the quickest overall. Part of it is their top order taking its time and then cashing in later. On the night, it meant no boundary in the first 11 balls, only one aerial shot in the powerplay and just 45 runs when the field was up.
He didn’t do much when the field was up, but once he felt he was in, Gill took on the deep fielders immediately after the powerplay. He started with 6 off 11, then used the pace of Harshit Rana to reach 22 off 19 before hitting Moeen Ali for six, four and four in consecutive balls. Again, though, he chose a touch of caution when facing Sunil Narine.
Sai Sudharsan took the load off him by attacking fellow Tamil Nadu player Varun Chakravarthy and then Harshit, who was getting purchase from the pitch with his offcutters. He even outpaced Gill to the fifty: in 33 balls to Gill’s 34. The orange cap followed soon after.
Sai Sudharsan’s wicket to Andre Russell’s extra bounce would have given KKR hope, but Buttler crushed their joy by hitting three consecutive fours in the same over. Gill now took on the responsibility of attacking the two main spinners, taking 12 and 11 in the 16th and 17th overs. It was a big win for GT that the spinners bowled 11 overs for no wicket and 96 runs without frenetic cricket.
Gill missed out on the century as he hit a full toss straight to deep midwicket, but Buttler and Shahrukh Khan made it 85 off the last eight overs.
KKR rang in the changes in this match hoping for better returns, but they also went in confident chasing anything under 210. This is where the GT way comes in. They might sometimes fall ten or so short of a perfect chase, but they hardly ever were 50 short because they went too hard. Lucknow Super Giants might have put in a perfect chase last game . KKR were far from perfect.
Mohammed Siraj started with an unplayable ball to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz: an outswinger that pitched and nipped in to give him no chance. Ainkya Rahane was the only KKR batter who looked fluent, but Narine and Venkatesh Iyer got stuck at the other end. Narine still managed 17 off 13, but Venkatesh’s 14 off 19 left them needing nothing short of a Russell special.
Rahane scored a fifty off 36 balls but a clever Washington Sundar wide ball had him stumped immediately after. Russell started with a four and a six off Washington, but canny spin bowling from Sai Kishore tied him down before Rashid Khan capped off his return to good results with the wicket of Russell. The ask was already in the realms of the impossible by then.
Towards the end, Prasidh Krishna extended his lead at the top of the purple cap charts with figures of 4-0-25-2 taking him to 16 wickets.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 198 for 3 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 90, Bhardwaj Sai Sudharsan 52, Joss Buttler 41*, M Shahruk Khan 11*; Vaibhav Arora 1-44, Harshit Rana 1-45, Andre Russell 1-13) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 159 for 8 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 17, Ajinkya Rahane 50, Venkatesh Iyer 14, Rinku Singh 17, Andre Russell 21, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 27*; Mohammed Siraj 1-32, Ishant Sharma 1-18, Prasidh Krishna 2-25, Rashid Khan 2-25, Washington Sundar 1-36, Sai Kishore 1-19) by 39 runs
[Cricinfo]
With their record breaking throws delivered in March, Sumeda Ranasinghe and Rumesh Tharanga will be the selectors’ easiest picks in the Sri Lanka team for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships.
The bienniale championship will be held from May 27 to 31 in Gumi, South Korea. Unlike at the previous editions Sri Lanka’s javelin throwers are in uncharted territory. The massive early season throws have placed the two Sri Lankan throwers in the second and thrid places in the world’s top list this year behind USA’s Curtis Thompson. In the fourth position in that list is India’s Olympic medallist Niraj Chopra who has a throw of 84.52 as his best effort this year.
Olympian Ranasinghe regained the national record with a throw of 85.78 metres at the trial held on March 9 at Diyagama. That was within a fortnight after Tharanga threw a world leading distance of 85.41 metres in Perth, Australia.
Sri Lanka Athletics is yet to announce the team for the Asian Championship. But the two throwers are almost certain to get the nod as they are in a historic top spot which is difficult to ignore.
In the women’s category too, javelin thrower Dilhani Lekamge is a top contender to book a ticket to Gumi as her best distance of 56.26 metres this year rank within the top 29 in Asia.
The men’s 400 metres had been the country’s most productive medal winning event at the Asian Athletics Championships. Currently, sprinter Aruna Dharshana and Kalinga Kumarage are ranked in the fourth and fifth positions in Asia. Both are yet to clock sub 46 seconds in the one lap discipline. Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba and Ammar Ismail Yahia Ibrahim and Japan’s Fuga Sato who won the silver at the last edition are the only Asians to have run the distance under 46 seconds this year.
Dispite not faring well at the recent Asian Indoors, Sri Lanka will field a 4×400 metres relay team to defend the gold in May. Dharshana and Kalinga are likely to be joined by two junior athletes as two of the gold winning members have produced below par performaces this year.
Sri Lanka Athletics has received a quota for 18 members after country’s outstanding performaces at the last edition in Bangkok. Sri Lanka won eight medals, three golds, two silvers and three bronzes. They were ranked fourth behind Japan, China and India according to the medal tally
by Reemus Fernando
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