Captaincy Conundrums

Its been slowly heating up and it seems things maybe coming to a boil.

Is Mahela the right man to lead Sri Lanka. This is not an easy question to answer and many are divided on the issue.

Mahela – the republican candidate.

Conservatism has crept into his leadership. Once a man who was aggressive and forward thinking, Mahela in the last year or so has taken a visible step in the wrong direction.

He is now prepared to let the game unfold instead of taking control of the game.

Often we are led to endure dire field placings with no one on the leg side during ODIs.
Some bowling changes baffle even the ardent of Mahela supporters.

Captaincy is definitely not a science but neither is it rocket science. If a captain is as good his team then surely the team is as good as the way its lead. At least when you are in the field.

Sangakkara– the β€˜Obama’ candidate.

Many feel he is the man who will revolutionize Sri Lankan cricket. He understands everyone’s plight and promises much. Change will come if he is given the job they say.

But will it really?

Sangakkara is viewed by everyone as a intellect who will bring new ideas and a common sense approach to the leadership role. His emphasis on hard work and discipline.

My view is that Sangakkara will only mildly improve on Mahela. He will at best be a Graeme Smith or a Kevin Peitersen. Reaching Dhoni status is unlikely.

Why? I think he has been ‘institutionalized’ under the Bayliss era. He is happy to play vice captain and offer his advice but apart from that neither Mahela nor Sangakkara show the enthusiasm they showed under Moody.

Mahela and Sangakkara are so finely tuned into each others thoughts that if they were lovers they would be finishing each others sentences.

If Sangakkaras influence was a big factor on the field then his innovative thoughts might be visible through what happens in a game. But rarely do we see anything of the sort these days.

So who is better. Neither.

What we need is a Maverick.

18 Comments

  1. batista said:

    you were a mahela lover for captaincy when I critisizes him . dont u remember ?? haha lol

    November 29, 2008
    Reply
  2. damiths said:

    Batista> Ya, I am still supporting him.

    By me saying Sanga wont be any different, Im implying no change is needed.

    November 29, 2008
    Reply
  3. sam said:

    hey why this debate ? MJ is doin a good job….he has to oversee the impending transition in SL cricket with the retirements of C Vaas and Murali…..

    yeah SL lost a way in ODIs but then give him chance….when u cud give likes of hashan and Attapattu a long run,then this chap is tonnes better than this 2

    November 29, 2008
    Reply
  4. sam said:

    and do u mean they r gay πŸ˜› (refer lovers sentence)

    just kidding πŸ™‚

    November 29, 2008
    Reply
  5. Q said:

    Hmm.. so who after them? Do u see a successor considering both of them will leave around the same time..

    November 29, 2008
    Reply
  6. lotus said:

    This writer is on crack. You should stop writing crap.

    November 29, 2008
    Reply
  7. damiths said:

    Sam> Its a debate that has been growing in amongst the Sri Lankan fans.

    Some feel Mahela has gone backwards since the 2007 world cup and so they feel Sanga is a better option

    It would he quite a twist if they were more than friends πŸ˜›

    Q> Maharoof seems to be a favorite option. Cuz he led the U19 team as well.

    Currently Thilina Kandamby leads the A team so he might be a chance as well. But it will be a long shot cuz he is not even in the team right now.

    Its a big worry for me, personally I dont see a good enough guy coming through the ranks

    Lotus> It does help with the writing. Noted, but reckon I will keep writing.

    Cheers.

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  8. sam said:

    sanga wud not replace Mj given they are chaddi buddies (i mean good friends)…..

    no option now….mahroof is not a certainity in Tests!! plus he remains injured mos of th times….may be make Q the skipper for a change πŸ˜› (kidding…..)

    i feel MJ is the man to lead the SL team for long!!

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  9. Ishan said:

    well one thing which is worrying me at the moment is Mahela as a player.. I know he is one of the best batsman in Sri Lanka but he seems to be having too frequent “bad spells “almost every other year.. all his bad form is forgotten as soon as he gets back into form and then the trend is continued.. so i think if there is gonna be a captaincy change it should be because if Mahela continues his bad form with the bat..then Sangakkara is the best option.. Personally i would love to see Sanga as the captain because I believe he can do what Dhoni has done to the indian team, But I dont want Mahela to be dropped as a Captain as yet..

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  10. gihan said:

    mubarak is the best bet right now.

    everytime when choses the team
    1 MJ
    2sanga
    3splendid mendis

    & 4 th person to be chosen is mubarak

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  11. damiths said:

    Sam> True, I dont think there is anyone better to lead SL other than Mahela. It would help his cause if he scored a few runs.

    Ishan> Agreed. His form is a real worry. He is out of form too often, for a player of his class and as captain its just not acceptable.

    Gihan> Muba leads a charmed life alright !

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  12. damiths said:

    Ps Gihan > I also loved how Splendid gets on the team sheet before Murali.

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  13. I too agree Mahela is the right guy to lead SL, but even Mahela can be rested for some not so important games and Sanga should be given an opportunity, I see a lotta potential in Sanga as captain… Sanga has that agressive thing in him, which is very much reqd these days πŸ™‚

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  14. shine said:

    I’ll go with Sanga since he’s the hotter one πŸ˜€

    November 30, 2008
    Reply
  15. insideEdge said:

    Mahela is a tactical genius…watch how he tried to win the 5th ODI by restricting Zim to less than 152 in 50 overs instead of going all out to bowl them out.

    With Murali bowling brilliantly, Kulasekera keeping it tight and Mendis having a catch dropped every other ball he completely released the pressure by having Jehan, Kandambi and Anjelo toss the ball up. At 58/6 he could go for the juggular with Murali having 3 overs left and Mendis most of his spell. Instead Captain Marvel Mahela allowed Zim right back in. Then when Kulasekera brought us right back in and Zim down to the last pair, he went for Anjelo with both Murali and Mendis having an over each. WTF…go for the kill with your best overs.

    He finally gave it to Murali but for the second time he was faffing about when the best bowlers were primed for the kill. The fact he didn’t let Thushara bowl the last over doesn’t make him a genius, calling Thushara up in the first place when Murali had an over makes him a Pontingesque idiot.

    Mahela was never a good captain. He was lucky to have Tom Moody’s brain when he first got the job. Mahela’s true colours have shown since Moody left in March 2007 – we have lost every single series against Test playing nations.

    Rememver the 3rd ODI against England at Dambulla on a dead slow pitch. We had then at 100 for 7 and the like of Sanna and Dilshan and if I’m not mistaken even Silva were unscorable. Then he got Malinga etc to bowl at pace and England made it home.

    Sack him from the captaincy and let him use the extra time to work on his accent.

    December 1, 2008
    Reply
  16. insideEdge said:

    Maybe Sanga has decided to reduce his input to show up Mahela’s captaincy for what it is. Longer term that will get Sanga the captaincy.

    One positive, his translation of Mendis has improved.

    December 1, 2008
    Reply
  17. raj said:

    insideEdge, there you struck the nail. Thats what Dhoni did to Kumble – in the oz series, India’s tactics were awful when Kumble was in charge and suddenly brilliant when Dhoni was. The question then is Dhoni being the Vice Captain why didnt he offer his ideas to Kumble when the latter was captain?

    December 1, 2008
    Reply
  18. damiths said:

    insideEdge> hes the UN appointed translator to the team, he better improve.

    i wrote to him on his website to ask about that. alas, no reply.

    December 2, 2008
    Reply

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