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Mahela’s got the ability to score 40 Test hundreds
Another two more days in the Test and Sri Lanka will have to play
positive to win it. Mahela played wonderful innings. He is blossoming
out to be the player whom I always thought he would be. I expect
him to take charge of the batting. He is a guy who can keep the
scoreboard ticking. If he can bat for one and a half days he can
set up a total for victory. We are presently in such a situation.
Looking at England’s bowling I foresaw the situation. Their
bowling is quite effective for the first six to seven overs. While
the ball is new they can get an early breakthrough. Only Sidebottom
who bowls a better length is suited for this type of wickets. Harmison
and Broad hit the deck more often. You can carry one bowler of that
type but not two. In this sort of condition they become easy to
handle.
They
need to bowl fuller short of length more often with a bouncer thrown
in. Mahela has set up this game really well for Sri Lanka. Mainly
by keeping wickets in hand and getting a lead on the third day he
has opened the game up for a decision in his team’s favour.
If we get a decent lead of about 175-200 by tea time and put them
in, it will be a very good game. From here it is very hard for Sri
Lanka to lose. They should think positive and push for victory.
They know now how to win a Test match. There is no pressure on Sri
Lanka now. The entire pressure is on England. They need to really
bat well to save the game.
All credit should go to Vandort and Mahela for stabilising the innings.
With every single opportunity he got Vandort has come out and performed.
He is one guy we have found as replacement for one of the great
openers we’ve had over the years. Sanath is always tough to
replace. Given the opportunity we can find someone.
People thought at one time that players cannot be replaced but we
have always done so in the end. We have ample talent in this country
and if we nurture it well we’ll have lots of players filling
in places. Vandort has done very well for himself. It only needs
for Tharanga to get back into form and we’ll be up and running.
I must congratulate Mahela since he’s got to my record. The
guys who played before me scored 10 hundreds and getting to 20 was
a great achievement. Mahela should now set his sights at getting
40 Test hundreds. He’s got the ability to do that. He is a
good enough player to do it. I hope he will go from strength to
strength and become a great player. Sanga also has similar talent.
He too should set targets to get more hundreds.
I was a bit disappointed with the wicket. I thought it would create
more excitement but it was boring to watch the game. Even spinners
or fast bowlers didn’t get much assistance out of it. Once
a batsman gets in it is very hard to get him out. You need wickets
that have batsmen thinking. In general the SSC wicket has lost a
bit of pace and bounce which it had. Wickets around the world have
changed. Murali used to get more bounce here. If he could do that
the Test could be more interesting and the game an even contest.
That’s
what makes the game interesting especially a Test match. That’s
been taken away.
But Sri Lanka should not worry too much about the wicket. Our team
now has batting and bowling to play and win on any kind of surface.
It is high time we started preparing good wickets where bowlers
and batsmen have even chances.
The two wickets that fell for the entire day says a lot about England’s
bowling. They lack imagination and fire power to topple the Sri
Lankan batting line up even though it is inexperienced. In a way
I sympathise with them for the conditions under which they have
to play. I don’t think they get the opportunity to bowl in
similar conditions back home. It becomes a bit frustrating sometimes
and mentally difficult for them to handle such situations.
They
need to learn from this tour how to play in this sort of conditions.
It will be a good learning process for them.
It is also a good opportunity for Mubarak to come early in the morning
and not face the new ball. He should play his normal game without
any pressure. I hope he and the others get in and make some decent
runs to seal their places in the team
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