How React the Media For India`s Loss | |||
| 'Sri Lanka played perhaps the perfect Test match at the SSC ground, while India were woefully below even average. The final margin, an innings and 239 runs, was an apt indication of the quality of cricket the two sides portrayed in the first Test. 'Never in recent memory have India been humiliated thus in the sub-continent, on a true surface, twice in the same match by a pair of spinners. Every team has one extraordinarily poor Test match from time to time, and India had theirs at the SSC ground. Their bowling was less than intimidating in the best batting conditions of the game, their catching was shoddy and their batting was more English than Indian. 'Like rabbits transfixed by headlights, they appeared bamboozled and in a trance when confronted with the guile of Murali and the versaility of Mendis.' - R Kaushik, Deccan Herald. 'Fit for Ripley's Believe It or Not. Some, however, would argue there's no point being startled as the Indians are prone to dismal starts in most series. 'Whatever, unless a solution is found over the next few days, the doosras and the carrom ball-deliveries from MoM Muttiah Muralidharan and Mendis, respectively, will continue to torment. 'The psychological damage caused by such a crushing defeat could take long to heal. By then, the series may well be over.' - Lokendra Pratap Sahi, The Telegraph. 'There is little relevance to preparation if it does not translate to performance in the middle. 'After the drubbing in the first Test here, the Indians would have done well to understand the importance of performance. The batting order that was up against the best spinner in the game and another whose tricks are still difficult to spot. 'The top Indian six has a combined Test aggregate none in the history can boast of. Yet they failed to come to terms with the challenge in hand. This brings us back to the question of how much relevant preparation is to performance.' - V. Balaji, The Asian Age. 'After seeing the opening Test chart a highly unnatural course, one would like to ask the Indian team a simple question: were you batting in Mars while Sri Lanka did so in Venus? 'For close to two days, Lanka's batsmen cut, drove and pulled everything into pieces; India's bowlers gave a new meaning to line and length while the fielders were as shoddy as their ancestors. 'Mahela Jayawardene had no time for trivialities or accepted norms; he unleashed Ajantha Mendis as soon as the game seemed ready for him. 'He didn't bother to let the butterflies settle down in the debutant's tummy; he didn't prolong the agony for the watching world and India's batsmen. 'The formidable line-up, including the big five plus an in-form Gautam Gambhir, was confident; it acted liked it had already cracked the mystery. Mendis had a wry smile on his lips as he swirled the ball in the air. He flaunted his grip, unmindful of the million cameras. 'At the moment, though, Ajantha has made a bunch of seasoned players look like schoolboys batting with nothing in their hands. In Round One itself, he has delivered a knockout blow; can India get up from the floor, swallow the humiliation and put up at least a fight? Or will they continue to bat like they are in Mars? ' - Bobilli Vijay Kumar, The Times of India. 'It sowed the seeds of doubt about whether India's selection policy is starting to unravel the once formidable batting line-up. 'While they can combat Australia on Australian pitches and wipe the floor with England on the green, green fields of Blighty, the fact remains they have largely lost their ability to combat spin in Asian conditions.' - Trevor Chesterfield , Cricketnext.com. 'There are times when it helps to look back and analyse exactly what went wrong in a game. But in situations like this, where everything possible went wrong, it may be prudent to just consign the past to history and look forward.' - Anand Vasu, Hindustan Times.
Cricket365.com *****************************************************
---- Dailymirror.LK |
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
How React the Media For India`s Loss ............Sangakkara toppled from top spot in Test rankings
West Indian Shivnarayan Chanderpaul replaced Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara at the top of the ICC ranking for the Test batsman. Sangakkarra, who surged to the top of the rankings in December last year, could manage just 12 runs in Sri Lanka's 600-6 declared in the first innings of the first Test and has consequently dropped to second place which he now shares with Australia's Mike Hussey.
Ranatunga Lashes Out At India for low playing of the Game .......... Heroic Murali Hails Sidekick Mendis.........Prasad - named in a 15-man squad
Ranatunga Lashes Out At India
Cricket365.COM Reports .............
Ranatunga - friendly warning to India.
Sri Lankan Cricket chairman Arjuna Ranatunga has slammed India after their shocking display in the opening Test in Colombo.
While Sri Lanka piled on 600 runs for the loss of just six wickets, India could only manage to 223 and 138 in their two innings, resulting in an innings and 239-run defeat - their third worst Test defeat.
Ranatunga believes India's batsmen adopted a Twenty20 approach for much of the Test match.
"The way that the Indians have played this Test is an eye-opener not just for us but for all cricket-playing countries. They dealt with this like a Twenty20 game. I think they were not prepared for Test cricket," he told the Indian Express.
The former Sri Lankan skipper also warned India that their newfound fascination with Twenty20 cricket will cost them in the long run.
"If the Indians keep getting their priorities wrong, they will go down ranking-wise. Ultimately, it is the rank that is very important. And it is this performance that will determine the future of the game in your country. Focus on the Twenty20 game is a short-term thing. If the game is not protected, we are in for a major disaster," he added.
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Heroic Murali Hails Sidekick Mendis
July 28 2008- Cricket 360.COM
Mendis - the future of Sri Lankan cricket.
Sri Lanka star Muttiah Muralitharan believes the emergence of young spinner Ajantha Mendis will help prolong his own career.
Muralitharan, 36, and 23-year-old Mendis formed a formidable partnership in the first Test thrashing of India, taking 19 of the 20 wickets between them.
"He's one of the most talented guys I've seen," said Muralitharan, the world's leading Test wicket taker. "He's our future.
"When I started, way back in 1992, I could bowl only off-spin. Although I was a bigger turner, he has more variation.
"I want to play until the World Cup (in 2011). Now that Ajantha has come, I can play for a few more years. It's not a joke, I'm serious. Because of his presence my bowling will be reduced. Bowling 50 overs every innings is a huge task.
"If I bowl 30 to 35 overs I will be happy as I am ageing. The job will be easier for me."
Muralitharan feels Sri Lanka's potent three-pronged attack of him, Mendis and fast bowler Chaminda Vaas strike fear into their opponents.
"Vaasy is a class act, a wonderful bowler," he added. "He keeps the pressure from one end and takes wickets as well. Both of us have taken more than 1,000 Test wickets and quite a few in ODIs.
"Now that Ajantha is there too, we will be a handful."
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Sri Lanka Call For Rookie
July 28 2008 - Cricket365.COM Reports ....
Prasad - named in a 15-man squad.
Sri Lanka have included uncapped paceman Dammika Prasad in a 15-man squad for the second Test against India.
Prasad played three one-day internationals in 2006 but his career stalled due to a succession of injuries.
He reignited the interest of the selectors with four wickets against India for the SLC Board XI in a warm-up match.
But the 25-year-old's chances of making the starting XI in Galle on Thursday appear slim as the selectors are likely to retain the same line-up that won the series-opener by an innings and 239 runs.
Spin duo Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis shared 19 wickets in that victory and are again likely to carry most of the bowling workload.
Sri Lanka squad: M Jayawardene (captain), M Vandort, M Warnapura, K Sangakkara, T Samaraweera, T Dilshan, P Jayawardene, C Vaas, M Muralitharan, A Mendis, N Kulasekera, C Silva, T Thushara, C Kapugedera, D Prasad.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sri Lanka beat India in The First Test !
MURALI, MENDIS MESMERISE INDIA
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First Test, Colombo (day four, close): Sri Lanka 600-6 beat India 223 & 138 by an innings and 239 runs
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Muttiah Muralitharan took 6-26 in the second innings to demolish India and seal a huge victory for Sri Lanka in the first Test in Colombo
India, following on, collapsed again in the face of Muralitharan, who took 11 wickets overall, and Ajantha Mendis.
Debutant Mendis took 4-60, giving him eight wickets for the match, as India were skittled for 138, to lose by an innings and 239 runs.
Gautam Gambhir’s knock of 43 proved the only Indian resistance of any note.
Mahela Jayawardene’s side took an emphatic 1-0 lead in the three-Test series as they dominated the fourth day.
Muralitharan ripped through the Indian batting, taking the early wicket of Virender Sehwag for 13 and subsequently striking at regular intervals.
India lost their remaining nine wickets in little more than a session, marking another disappointing performance with the bat.
VVS Laxman fell to Mendis for just 21, trapped plumb in front on the back pad, and Sachin Tendulkar soon followed him back to the pavilion, caught at backward short leg for 12.
Umpire Billy Doctrove initially ruled not out, having failed to spot the ball flick Tendulkar’s bat as he attempted to paddle-sweep Muralitharan, but third umpire Rudi Koertzen overruled the decision on review.
Muralitharan then snapped up the wickets of Gautam Gambhir (43), Sourav Ganguly (four), Dinesh Karthik (nought) and Anil Kumble (12).
Mendis added the wickets of Rahul Dravid (10), Harbhajan Singh (15) and Zaheer Khan (three) to his capture of Laxman.
India’s first innings had earlier been brought to a close well inside the first session.
Beginning the day on 159-6, India put up some struggle through Laxman’s 56, until a googly from Mendis ended his resistance to leave the visitors all out for 223. (BBC)
****www.nation.lk****
Jayawardene backs umpire appeals
Jayawardene backs umpire appeals
 Muralitharan finished with 11 wickets in the match |
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene says the new experimental rule allowing players to challenge umpiring decisions is stopping mistakes being made.
Jayawardene's side successfully used the rule, which is on trial in their three-Test series against India, four times in the first match.
The rule allows players to request a review by referring it to the third official monitoring television replays.
"If it wasn't there we probably would have had four bad decisions," he said.
Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 11 wickets in Sri Lanka's innings and 239-run win, also backed the system.
"It is very good. No team can complain that they lost because of bad decisions," he said.
But India captain Anil Kumble said it was too early to comment on the rule.
 | 606: DEBATE mikesiva |
Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan was the first beneficiary on Thursday. He was on one when initially given out caught by umpire Mark Benson, but asked the official to review the decision.
Benson consulted TV umpire Rudi Koertzen before changing his decision and Dilshan went on to score 125 not out.
India batsmen Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were initially given not out by on-field officials, who changed their decisions after consulting the TV umpire.
Each team is allowed three unsuccessful review requests per innings but if one is successful they will get an additional appeal.
The trial will continue during the second Test, which gets under way in Galle on Thursday.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Ranatunga excited to see Tendulkar in Action
by Russell Palipane
******* The Island
Sri Lanka Cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga is looking forward to seeing Sachin Tendulkar back in action - despite the fact the India batsman may well break Brian Lara’s world record for Test runs against his team.
The first of three Tests between the nations got off to a delayed start at the SSC grounds in Colombo on Wednesday, with the 35-year-old Tendulkar requiring 172 runs to past West Indies legend Lara’s mark of 11,953.
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And Ranatunga cannot wait to see the ‘Little Master’ start picking off the runs.
"Everyone in Lanka is keen to see him bat in real cricket and not cowboy (shorter version) cricket," Ranatunga is reported to have said, according to cricket365.com.
"There are no words to describe him. One has to just look at his record. It says everything. He is the best batsman I have seen," Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning captain added.
Mahela equals Sir Don Bradman
by Rex Clementine -
The Island
Everytime Mahela Jayawardene plays at his home ground, you expect the Sri Lankan captain to score big. Mahela Jayawardene has now scored over 7500 runs in Test cricket and of those, over 2300 runs have come at the SSC. Yesterday, he scored his ninth Test hundred at the SSC and equaled the world record for the most number of hundreds at one venue.
He joins Sir Don Bradman as only the second man to have scored nine hundreds at the same venue and it’s only a matter of time before he surpasses the great man. Bradman scored nine hundreds at the MCG, where 1671 of his 6996 runs were scored and he averages a staggering 128:53 at that venue. (Bradman’s home ground was Adelaide).
Jayawardene averages 81:40 at SSC and of his nine hundreds, four have been scores of over 150 (374,242,195 and 150).
And of the nine hundreds at SSC, three have come against the Indians while two each have been scored against South Africa, England and Bangladesh.
Surprisingly, against the other five Test opponents, he has scored only one fifty (82 against Pakistan) while his top scores against other visiting teams at SSC are – 37 against Australia (2 Tests), 16 against New Zealand (1 Test), 41* against West Indies (2 Tests) and 18 against Zimbabwe (1 Test).
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Susanthika leads Lankan challenge at Olympics
Susanthika leads Lankan challenge at Olympics
By Dhammika Ratnaweera
Sri Lankan Olympic bronze medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe will lead the eight member team to the Beijing Olympics which is scheduled to commence from August 8 in China.
National Olympic Committee (NOC) chairman Hemasiri Fernando said the committee unanimously decided to give the leadership of the contingent to Susanthika who is the only athlete with previous Olympic experience.
She also led the Sri Lanka team to the last Olympics in Athens 2004 as well as the Sydney Olympics in 2000 which was historic when she won a bronze medal in the women’s 200 metres. She was also captain of the Sri Lankan team for the last Asian Games which was held in Qatar in 2006.
With this new appointment Susanthika will get a chance to carry the national flag at the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. Apart from Susanthika all other seven athletes are Olympic debutants - Nadeeka Lakmali (javelin throw), Mayumi Raheem and Daniel Lee (swimming), Anuruddha Ratnayake (boxing), EM Senanayake (pistol shooting), Thilini Jayasinghe (badminton) and Chintana Withanage (weightlifting).
In addition six officials will accompany the team according to Fernando. NOC vice president Dian Gomes who is also the president of the Sri Lanka Boxing Association will go as chef de mission.
Meanwhile the Chinese government has already sent an invitation to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse as head of state for the Olympics according to Fernando.
Asitha Attygalle, the tennis referee, Rohana de Silva, the international badminton umpire and international athletic technical officer PHD Waidyatilleke and Manel Dharmakeerthi international wushu referee have already got the invitation from their respective world bodies as officials for the Olympics.
The Sri Lankan team is scheduled to leave for China on August 5. However Susanthika who is in the USA for advanced training and EM Senanayake who is in Korea for special training, Mayumi Raheem in Singapore and Daniel Lee in Australia will join the other members in China.
****The Nation.LK***
Going to introduce T20 to schools In Sri Lanka
SLSCA introduces T20 to schools
By Samiddha Rathnayake
For the first time in local schools cricket history the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) is going to introduce the Twenty20 version of the game to schools. The new version of the game will come into effect from next March onwards, The Nation understands.
When contacted, SLSCA secretary Dilshan de Silva said that it will be a tournament with more than 16 teams taking part. “We are hoping to follow the same procedure as in the one-day tournament to pick the teams for the Twenty20 matches,” he said.
According to the secretary, they have already signed the sponsorship agreement with a reputed company and have taken measures to telecast the semifinal and the final live.
“We have to keep pace with the times. We took this step for the betterment of the game,” he said.
****The Nation.LK ***
Ten Sports to sue Sri Lanka Cricket
| Ten Sports to sue Sri Lanka Cricket | |
| By S.R. Pathiravithana | |
Is Sri Lankan cricket about to fall into another cash abyss very soon? Taj TV whose long term deal that ran from 2004 to 2011 was cancelled by the Sports Minister recently pointing out flaws in its 2006 addendum are not willing to take it lying low. “This action by Sri Lanka Cricket had hurt our prestige and a world wide reputation very badly and we are not prepared take it lying low. We will fight with all ammunition that we possess and we will leave no stone unturned till we see the right thing is done or we are properly compensated,” said Chris McDonald the Chief Executive Officer of Ten Sports who is the parent company of Taj TV in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times. “As far as we are concerned we have not done anything wrong, and we feel that how the SLC has treated us is unjustified. Therefore, we will seek justice”. It looks as if the Lankan cricket is in for cash strapped period once again. Even prior to this Sri Lankan cricket went through a very lean period after WSG Nimbus stalled their cash inflow when they were seeking compensation against their TV termination at that time. The International Arbitration centre (SAIC) awarded damages in 2003 December to World Sports Group Nimbus (WSG) against the then Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) for wrongfully terminating the agreement for Television and Broadcasting Rights between the BCCSL and WSG in 2001. The award of damages stood at US$ 7,719,929 minimum and Sing $ 649,062/40 as at 31-12-2006. Thereafter WSG also filed action in England, Sri Lanka and Malaysia to register the previously mentioned arbitration award. The rational was that ICC champions Trophy 2005 was played in England, and thus a move to block money that SLC was to receive from the ICC Champions Trophy. The action in Malaysia was to block the monies that were due from the Asia Cup 2004 and in Sri Lanka because SLC is registered in Sri Lanka. When the deadlock was going on and the SLC was feeling the pinch SLC’s lawyers in Malaysia M/s Shook Lin & Bok and Dr. Harsha Cabral President’s Counsel advised them to enter into a settlement with WSG amounting to US$ 5 million and the payment spread over six months. Plus this SLC also had to settle legal fees too. Thereafter the SLC, under then president Mohan de Silva entered into an agreement with Ten Sports amounting to Rs. 33,550,000 to which the addendum was added in 2007, which the final deal would have read as US$ 52 million. The SLC cancelled the above agreement on 9th July on a directive of the Ministry of Sports. SLC not represented at today’s ICC meeting The ICC has invited all eight participating countries of the Champions Trophy for an emergency discussion on the safety of the participating teams at the Champions Trophy which is due to be held in Pakistan in September. |
-- The Sunday Times. LK
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sri Lanka - India Matches going to be dalay
| Match kicks off, SL opt to bat |
The first test between
Sri Lankan cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene (L) and teammate Kumara Sangakkara inspect the pitch at The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo just before play kicked off after the delay caused by rain. AFP PHOTO |
Saturday, July 5, 2008
We Got a New Web Site with Old Name
Star Lanka Online Dot Com
we proudly present our new fixed web site,
www.starlankaonline.com in very near future. Also we are going to keep our download files like Dialog TV Monthly Programme Guide ( Unofficial ) , songs, TV Programmes and many more. That's why we were so silent past few weeks without many posts. But these free blogs remain same as before with new posts.
Many thanks to
Mr. Tharindu Shashindra webmaster of, www.arunella.com
and
Mr.K.D.Manuka Lakshitha , the webmaster of www.srizone.net
. Who are the ones , show us the way.
Await......
With More ....
Star Lanka Online Dot Com,
coming to your PC ...........
Click here
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Sri Lanka into final in Asia cup 2008
Sri Lanka into final
Sri Lanka booked their place in the final of the Asia Cup with a 158-run victory over Bangladesh.
Jayasuriya blazed to his 26th ODI century in typically bullish fashion, top scoring with 130 off just 88 deliveries, while Sangakkara held the Sri Lankan innings together with a solid 121 as Sri Lanka piled on 332 for eight after opting to bat first.
Muralitharan (five for 31) then carved through the Bangladesh order, allowing just 31 runs from 10 overs as the Sri Lankans bossed the Super Four encounter in Karachi. Bangladesh were dismissed for 174, with Raqibul Hasan (52) and Mohammed Nazimuddin (47) providing some resistance.
Sri Lanka will face either hosts Pakistan or India in Sunday's final.
