Is This The End For Sri Lanka Cricket?

I’m sitting at home and watching the 2018 Asia Cup, where Kumar Sangakkara is on air commentating as Sri Lanka play Afghanistan in ODI 3 of the tournament. It’s a huge challenge for Afghanistan as they are new to international cricket, while also just having received their Test status. For Sri Lanka however, it was a must-win game really, after having lost the tournament opener to Bangladesh.

So while hearing Sangakkara comment on air, I can’t help to feel sad about how Sri Lanka Cricket has slid so badly over the last couple of years. What is it? Change of personnel? Lack of confidence? Or the talent not being managed properly? We have no idea, but Sri Lanka is rapidly going down in international cricket, so much so that it’s shameful for them at the moment.

You think of someone like Sangakkara, who has over 28,000 runs in international cricket and think of how he played alongside other legends of the game like Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan and others. You think of Sri Lanka lifting the 1996 World Cup, reaching the 2007 finals and then reaching the 2011 finals as well. Now, they find it tough to get past teams like Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

No disrespect to those two countries, but there’s a lot to be done for Sri Lanka as they walk out of this 2018 Asia Cup, losing today to Afghanistan by 91 runs. Yes, the latter did play well but you can’t help but notice how the Sri Lankan batsmen made far too many rookie mistakes. Giving away wickets. I hated to hear Sangakkara saying “That’s the final nail in the coffin for Sri Lanka,” when Rashid Khan picked up Lasith Malinga LBW for 1. Man of the Match: Rahmat Shah

At the end of the day it’s something that Sri Lanka has to accept. Three days into the Asia Cup and it’s all over for the 5-time champions. They’ve tried team changes, captaincy changes and everything else possible, but nothing seems to be gong right for them at the moment. They were outplayed today and Angelo Mathews went to the presentation ceremony with his head held low. Clearly this is too long for a transition period? Could this be the beginning of the end for this once-strong cricketing nation? Sanga believes that there needs to be more ‘CLARITY’.

Comment and let us know what you think!

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