Sri Lanka cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara is currently in UK on commentary duty, first in the World Test Championship Final and now in the limited overs series between England and Sri Lanka, as Sri Lankan’s sole representation.
During the just concluded three T20Is played between England and Sri Lanka though, It was clearly evident that Sangakkara was in a very awkward position at the commentary box alongside the English contingent of fellow commentators.
It was not due to his lack of knowledge or skills as a commentator, but the inexplicably poor show put on by the team of cricketers coming from the country he represents.
Viewers on TV could feel the boredom of the English commentators who seemed to be perplexed at the lack of intent shown by the Lankans in all 3 of their T20I fixtures against the number 1 ranked England. They have been questioning the ‘intent’ (or the lack of it), from the Lankan batsmen – which is in no way match the modern standards of T20 cricket.
During yesterday’s 3rd and final T20I match, Michael Atherton, popular commentator and former England skipper asked Sanga, if this is the best team Sri Lanka has got, as if to obliquely suggest that this SL team is in no way match to the current English team.
“I think this is the best squad” Sangakkara replied.
“There are are a few others who’s been in the mix – Chandimal, Thisara Perera, who’s now retired, Angelo Mathews, Thirimanne and Karunaratna- who have batted beautifully in Test cricket” he went on to say.
“But then it’s also about identifying who you want to take forward to the journey to the T20 World Cup, which is the immediate target, then of course the 2023 World Cup.” Sangakkara said.
“The other things is, if these are the best players, why then are they playing the way they do? That can be traced back to not just them being in International cricket, but also to first class cricket” Sangakkara concluded answering Atherton’s ‘uneasy’ question.
Sangakkara is also a member of the advisory committee of past cricketers lead by Aravinda De Silva, who are working on implementing changes to the cricketing system in Sri Lanka, including making changes to the first class structure in the country. (CricWire)