Sports
LPL growing bigger in stature
by Rex Clementine
One key reason for India’s recent cricketing glory is the IPL that was launched in 2008. It must be mentioned that Indian cricket officials weren’t all that fancy about T-20 cricket two decades ago. Test and ODI cricket were already bringing them much wealth and the game was thriving. A T-20 league was initiated by the Indian Board to counter the rival Indian Cricket League, which was a private venture. The sole purpose seemed to keep the leading players within the system rather than letting them venture out with a private entity. Basically, the IPL was an accident. Today it is a resounding success.
Since then, several boards initiated their own T-20 league. Australia had the Big Bash, England introduced The Hundred, West Indies launched the CPL while Pakistan came up with PSL. Sri Lanka Cricket faced many challenges when initiating their own league. The pandemic was at its height when Lanka Premier League was started and today it has gone on to become a successful competition bringing in revenue to the board and more importantly giving local players a platform to showcase their skills.
The opportunity for young players to learn by mixing with international stars likes Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatulah Omarzai and Tabraiz Shamsi to name just a few must be some experience. True, in India, they have the opportunity to mix with the likes of Jos Buttler, Glenn Maxwell, Kagiso Rabada, Kane Williamson and Pat Cummins, but at least our players have got some international exposure.
Then obviously, playing some of these last over tight finishes will prepare players to excel under pressure. Towards the back end of the league stage and during the play offs there were games that you couldn’t tell the outcome until the last over. Some of them ended up in Super Overs and all these will toughen up players as they have got a taste of playing under pressure.
Some teams will be kicking themselves. They had the game in the bag and one costly error turned things upside down. Dambulla Sixers were unfortunate to get knocked out. It was cruel as they were tied on points and were eliminated on Net Run Rate.
Likewise, in the eliminator, Colombo Strikers were cruising and one partnership between Kamindu Mendis and Dasun Shanaka denied them a crack at the final.
Kandy had a horrible start but gained momentum when it mattered. With so many match winners in their ranks they could go all the way. Galle Marvels are the overwhelming favourites though. They are a very clever organization and have been professional throughout since taking over the franchise this year.
For several players it was an opportunity to earn recalls to the senior side by excelling in LPL. Take for example Avishka Fernando. He has been a sensation scoring five half-centuries in nine innings. He was the leading run scorer with 363 runs prior to Saturday with an average of 45 and a strike rate of 167. Those number are far better than those of Alex Hales, Tim Seifert, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Andre Fletcher. Hopefully that form continues against India.
B Sai Sudarshan strengthened his case to retain the No.3 spot for the upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka, with his 168 for India A against Sri Lanka A in Galle. Sudharsan converted his overnight 104 not out into his career-best score for India A, helping his side stretch their lead to 175 by the end of the third day’s play. India A closed out the day on 541 for 8 in response to Sri Lanka A’s 366.
Devdutt Padikkal failed to add to his overnight 94 and Ruturaj Gaikwad retired hurt on 13, but India A zoomed ahead thanks to Sai Sudharsan, captain Dhruv Jurel (53), Shaik Rasheed (45) and Saransh Jain (68*).
Jurel’s innings was cut short when he was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Dilum Sudeera, who also claimed the wicket of Sai Sudharsan. Allrounder Keshara Nuwantha, meanwhile, claimed the wickets of Padikkal and Shaik Rasheed, and Gurnoor Brar late in the day. Overall, he had figures of 4 for 158 in 50 overs.
Sri Lanka A toiled away, using as many as eight bowlers, but only Sudeera and Nuwantha were among the wickets until captain Sahan Arachchige struck late in the day.
India A’s bowling allrounders Saransh and Auqib Nabi (30) combined for an 81-run stand to take the visitors past 500.
Scores:
India A 541 for 8 in 142 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 168, Devdutt Padikkal 94, Druv Jurel 53, Saransh Jain 68*, Shaik Rasheed 45; Keshara Nuwantha 4-158, Dilum Sudeera 3-101) lead Sri Lanka A 366 in 110 overs (Sahan Arachchige 127; Gurnoor Brar 4-77, Saransh Jain 4-92) by 175 runs
(Cricinfo)
Vaobhav Sooriyavanshi at just 15 years and 99 days, has become the second youngest cricketer to play for a Full Member men’s team*, making his debut against England in Manchester. He enters a list of other precocious talents who had burst on to – and sometimes, gone away – from the international stage in their teenage years.
Hasan Raza (Pakistan), 14y 227d
Hasan Raza was a wonderful timer of the ball. He took the field against Zimbabwe before turning 15 in October 1996, and batted once, scoring 27 off 48 deliveries from No. 5.
Doubts, however, later emerged about his age, and the PCB withdrew the claim that Raza was the youngest men’s Test debutant in the history of the game.
Whether he was 14, or 15 as some claimed, he showed tenacity at the international stage but without the results. He played just one more Test before the turn of the century, and then was dropped from the side. A recall in 2002 resulted in his only two Test fifties, against Australia – slow knocks of 54* and 68. However, he never quite found the same success as he did in first-class cricket, where he scored 13,949 runs in a 20-year career.
Jhon Arias scored the only goal as Colombia beat Ghana 1-0 in sweltering conditions in Kansas City on Friday to reach the World Cup round of 16, continuing a quietly impressive campaign that has established them as dangerous outsiders.
Arias struck in the 14th minute, guiding home a cross from substitute Luis Suarez, and Colombia’s disciplined defence did the rest as Nestor Lorenzo’s side extended their unbeaten run and booked a meeting with Switzerland in the next round.
Colombia had largely flown under the radar at the tournament, despite going undefeated against Portugal, Uzbekistan and DR Congo to top Group K.
Their breakthrough on Friday came from two players who had not been expected to combine, as Suarez, thrust into action after Jhon Cordoba was forced off with an apparent groin injury in the eighth minute, delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post where Arias had somehow drifted unmarked.
With time and space to pick his spot, Arias calmly guided the ball into the bottom corner to hand his side a deserved lead.
The stadium felt more like Barranquilla than Kansas City as tens of thousands of Colombia supporters turned the clash with Ghana – a team ranked 60 places behind them – into a de facto home game, giving the South Americans a level of support rarely seen so far from home.
The stands were a writhing, dancing sea of yellow jerseys, twirling scarves and black-and-white sombrero vueltiao hats, that many used to fan their faces in the oppressive 30-degree Celsius (86-degree Fahrenheit) heat.
They bounced in unison, roared their team forward with every attack, and regularly broke into chants of “Vamos Colombia! Esta noche tenemos que ganar!” (Spanish for ‘Let’s go Colombia, tonight we have to win!’).
They need not have worried. Colombia were the better team by some distance.
Luis Diaz had numerous scoring chances. He fired into the side netting in the first half, then celebrated what he thought was the game’s second goal early in the second half when he slotted home Arias’s cross, but it was disallowed for offside.
Lorenzo’s men continued to push for a second goal, and Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who was excellent all night, made one terrific save after another in the dying minutes as Colombia’s fans cheered every one of their team’s touches of the ball.
Antoine Semenyo was Ghana’s biggest attacking threat, yet Colombia’s disciplined defence denied him a clear sight of goal.
Colombia became the fourth South American team to reach the last 16, joining surprise package Paraguay, who stunned Germany, along with Brazil and Argentina, both of whom survived scares of their own.
Colombia – whose best finish was reaching the quarterfinals in 2014 – play the Swiss on Tuesday in Vancouver.
[Aljazeera]
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