Who needs Murali?

Two wins with the bowlers dominating. For those watching the Ashes you are excused for thinking it’s old goggle eyes up to his tricks again.

There was no Murali. No sir. I didn’t even see him in the dressing rooms. No Murali in sight and still Pakistan collapsed for

9-78
10-90
9-35

in 3 consecutive innings.

Quite amazing really. So the question everyone is asking at the Kottu roti joints in SL is do we still need him to win test matches?

Sri Lankas bowling has never been stronger. Nuwan and Mirando seems to have found an unexpected groovyness together.

Herath has entered the fray and shown us the threat he can become.

Splendid has discoverd test cricket is no walkabout. But he has shown what he can do.

Malinga is on the verge of playing test cricket again.

Prasad is chomping at the bit to be let loose.

Mathews is also learning the trade.

So do we still need Murali? Absofuckenlutely. I would still play Murali in test if we had Warne and Mcgrath bowling for us.

SL have won 58 tests in their history. Of those Murali has been involved in 51. You dont just ignore that.

Specially now at a time when Mendis seems to have lost a bit of his Splendidness.

8 Comments

  1. Ottayan said:

    You need to play him if he is fit and willing.

    July 17, 2009
    Reply
  2. Krish said:

    You need to remember that Herath was pretty average until he struck form in the last two Tests. See how Mendis faded. It is too early to say that you can replace Murali.

    July 17, 2009
    Reply
  3. insideEdge said:

    Who needs Murali? Ajantha Mendis and Younus Khan (he reverse sweeps Murali well)

    Who nees Mendis? Rangana Herath – Pak batsman think all SL spinners not called Murali are crap and end up paying the price.

    July 17, 2009
    Reply
  4. Ranajit said:

    Dont get carried away by these SL bowler’s exploits. The 2 defeats, I am certain, has more to it. Pakistanis are famous for under-performing. Sometimes to bring down their captain, at other times for certain other benefits.

    Let the ilks of Heraths perform against other teams outside SL.

    July 17, 2009
    Reply
  5. Em said:

    Thats a nice back flip on splendid mendis

    July 18, 2009
    Reply
  6. Em said:

    Hey Damith – I reckon you should have a section on cricket controversies. specialy since shehan opened the match fixing “can of worms”. I know where you stand on the issue, I’m still on the fence with that one. It’s not just match fixing though we can discuss chucking, drug use, womanizing, murders, sportsmanship and if jayasuriya uses growth hormones, just to name few. I love controversies and conspiracies.

    July 18, 2009
    Reply
  7. Lou said:

    I really admire Pakistan fans. They must have a stomach like iron to follow their team with committment. What a bunch their cricketers are. Always talented and always hair-brained.

    July 22, 2009
    Reply
  8. insideEdge said:

    Amazingly SL won 2-0 with one decent batting performance (and that too in the last innings to save a game) thanks to five great bowling performances and 5 great collapses!

    Balls of the SL – Pak Series

    Golden Balls:
    Nuwan Kulasekera – never previously looked a Test match bowler. His return of 17 wickets at 15 has only been bettered by Vaas and Saliya Ahangama. Needs to work on being more effective with the old ball – Vaas is now around to coach him.

    Rangana Herath – an attacking bowler for the first time and doing so while Unsplendid was leaking runs at the other end. Having MoYo as your bunny is no bad thing.

    Gained Balls
    Sanga – mainly for captaincy. Threw away too many starts yet again until last innings hundred..

    Paranavithana – needs to kick on to a hundred but filled one opening slot

    Matthews – always did something and if he remains grounded will be Golden Balls for SL. Got starts and threw them away every time until the last innings when he was really needed and he made sure to be there at the end. Looks a Test batsman and has the attributes to be a front line bowler.

    Thushara – another to look a Test bowler for the first time. The replacement for Vaas is here although he needs to work on control.

    Samaraweera – simply for been back. Got starts without kicking on until the last game. Would have got a hundred but for cramp which was likely to his long break from the game.

    Lost Balls
    Mendis – needs to concentrate on cricket and less on billboards. He’ll be back and fortunately his slump coincided with the best SL team bowling performance since India in 1985.

    Mahela – Shoaib Malik’s idol

    Lost Balls and Brains
    Warnapura – deserves to be dropped for that shot to the first ball. His only 50 was far too streaky for an opener.

    Pakistan
    Gained Balls
    Shoaib Malik – now the main proponent for Pak to play all tests away from home at SSC. His last hundred saved him for four year so he’ll be still nibbling around off stump in 2012

    Fawad Alam – big hundred on debut

    Mo Aamer – explosive start to what will be a great career unless he turns to Shoaib Akthar for mentoring

    Saeed Ajmal – decent but not spectacular start to his career. Might have elbow trouble if refereed by Chris Broad

    Lost Balls
    Mo Yo – two fine innings but the balls kept falling out of his pocket and when he went to get it back nasty TM Dilshan kept running him out. Still clueless against Herath

    Umar Gul – in danger of becoming a T20 specialist. Of course that’s mighty lucrative

    Younus Khan – for that daft waft at Paranavithana. Goes home with the idiot of the series award just ahead of Warnapura.

    July 25, 2009
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