Sports
Stop treating Dickwella like Gilchrist
by Rex Clementine
For some strange reason, Sri Lankan teams have failed to compete in Test matches in India. Despite Sri Lankan teams travelling there for 40 years, the closest they came to win a Test match was on their first trip, way back in 1982. Even teams comprising some of the greats of Sri Lankan cricket have failed miserably in Indian conditions over the years. Strange for a nation that is the only Asian team to have won a Test series in South Africa, where most teams struggle.
One of Sri Lanka’s decent tours of India was the one in 2017. Having been whitewashed 3-0 at home by the same opposition, not many had given a chance when Sri Lanka landed in Calcutta for the return series in November 2017. The tourists lost the Nagpur Test but came out with their heads held high at Eden Gardens and Feroz Shah Kotla having drawn both games. The Delhi Test in particular was a thriller as Sri Lanka played out of their skins to earn a draw.
One of the standout performers on that tour was Niroshan Dickwella. He kept wickets so well, batted responsibly and often got under the skin of the opposition. The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper was particularly a thorn in the flesh when Indian captain Virat Kohli came out to bat.
Kohli never one to take a backward step, picked up a few fights with Dickwella, but at the end of the series was the first man to applaud the young Sri Lankan, who was 24 at that time. Kohli even predicted a bright future for the man who was once earmarked as a future Sri Lankan captain. Alas! Since then, very little has gone right for Dickwella.
After 47 Test matches, Dickwella is yet to score a Test hundred. How have his contemporaries fared in the meantime? There’s Rishab Pant of India, he has already scored four hundreds after 30 Tests. There’s Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan who has two Test hundreds after 11 Tests. Bangladesh have Litton Das, who has scored two hundreds after 29 Tests. The Kiwis have Tom Blundell, who has scored two hundreds after 17 Tests. All of them have played a lot lesser than Dickwella, but have come up with match winning or back to the wall match saving efforts.
Dickwella continues to disappoint. He would walk in with the team in trouble, the opposition would place two players square on the leg-side for his pet sweep shot and you can be assured that Dickwella will find one of those two fielders. Want proof, well that was exactly what happened in the first innings in Mohali this month.
India had posted a mammoth 574 for eight declared, Sri Lanka had slumped to 161 for five and in walks Dickwella. He sweeps straight away, misses a couple, tries it again, gets a top edge and finds Shreyas Iyer.
Hansie Cronje once said that he is not addicted to tobacco or alcohol but he’s addicted to money. Similarly, Dickwella is addicted to the sweep.
Mind you this is a man who is making a comeback after a suspension. Usually, when players have been dealt bitter blows in their careers, they are determined to prove their detractors wrong. But here’s Dickwella, walking in like Adam Gilchrist and playing the fatal cross-batted shot straightaway. The message he is passing onto the selectors is clear, ‘drop me if you can’.
It was a crucial stage of the game with Pathum Nissanka involved in a lone battle and he needed some company. Dickwella proved to be bad company.
The national cricket team is no joke and we can certainly do without comedians like Dickwella. At least, until, he learns his lessons.
Dickwella’s antics continued in Bangalore in the next Test.
Sri Lanka made a breakthrough in the second over when Mayank Agarwal was run out. None had a doubt. Not the umpires, not the batsman or the Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who was the non-striker. But we have a doubting Thomas in Dickwella. He wanted a review for leg before wicket!
It is our earnest hope that someone in the dressing room questioned Dickwella’s actions. The best explanation that can be given is that he had a brain fade. Giving Dickwella license to review is like giving license to Ajith Nivad Cabraal to fix the economy.
Ending the suspension of Dickwella and brothers early was a no brainier. Some players Sri Lanka Cricket has treated with kids’ gloves and they continue to disappoint. Their callous disregard for the game doesn’t augur well moving forward.
A closer look at Dickwella after the suspension tells you many stories. One of them is that he has not learned his lessons. He remains incorrigible.
Take a look at Rishab Pant. He was just an ordinary keeper but his keeping has improved leaps and bounds while his batting has reached new heights. He can now walk into the Indian side as a specialist batsman. Anyway, he’s batting at number five.
Dickwella’s talent is far superior to that of Pant. But our man lacks conviction and simply doesn’t want to be the best he can. Going out of comfort zone is not his forte. Someone needs to remind him the meaning of ‘Respice Finem’. You don’t expect Dickwella to know the meaning and someone like Kumar Sangakkara, Ravi Ratnayake or even Ranjan Madugalle better explain it to him.
It helps that India had Rahul Dravid as the Director of the National Cricket Academy. When he moved on as the Head Coach of India, BCCI did not choose just another coach. They chose a legend of Indian cricket. VVS Laxman is his name. Laxman is from Hyderabad and from there he shifted to Bangalore where India’s National Academy is. Can you have better mentors than Laxman and Dravid! That exactly what Sri Lankan cricket needs at the moment. By the way, Laxman has given up all his commentary and IPL commitments. His sole focus is on the National Cricket Academy. Let one of our legends follow suit too.
Dickwella needs a lot of mentoring. This is too precious a talent to go waste. Who in his right mind would have the guts to scoop a 145kmph thunderbolt from Kagiso Rabada. That too first ball in the game. Insane!
As of now, Dickwella needs to be given a break. He can not continue to disrespect the game and remain in the side. Let him be axed and learn a lesson or two the harsh way.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
