IND v SL 2017 : Sri Lanka's road ahead after demolition from India

Sri Lanka are currently ranked Eighth in ODIs.

Sri Lanka lost the T20 series against India by 3-0 | Source NDTV Sports

Despite a valiant effort by Sri Lankan bowlers in the third T20 match against India at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai their downfall still continues in International Cricket with another disappointing performance by the team with India having another whitewash over them in T20s, Sri Lanka lost the third match by 5 wickets miserable In spite of having some great performances.

This year has proven to be very bad for Sri Lankan team because throughout the whole year the team had a poor record on the field with more losses than wins. Sri Lanka has ended their year on a losing note against the men in blue. This year was a forgetful year for them as there was nothing inspirational from the major players with most of them injured or sitting out on the bench for some reasons. Injuries had a big role over some senior players like Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal missing out on the T20s and other in-experienced players also not playing up to Nic Pothas.

They had beaten India in the Champions Trophy but were not quite effective the whole year except winning against Zimbabwe and Pakistan on their own home turf. Everyone thought they would put up a good show against other teams. The team is definitely lacking in skills and experience and missing their senior most players like Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dilshan after their retirement the team has not really come out as one unit and played their best.

They are currently ranked sixth in the test, eight in ODIs and T20s, they really need to change these numbers in near future with uncertainty rising over their World Cup 2019 chances they will have to qualify for the same. Sri Lanka has faced 40 losses in 2017 in all formats with eight more than any other side in a calendar year.

From 2016 Sri Lanka's performance have been terrible. They were whitewashed 5-0 by South Africa and were hammered 1-4 by Australia at home. In the 2017 Champions Trophy, they failed to reach the knock-outs and their lowest point came when they lost an ODI series for the first time to Zimbabwe 2-3. Their woes have only grown with another potential 0-5 whitewash looming.

With such a string of poor strings, Sri Lanka team would definitely like to have a look at their fortune for their matches coming next year. The team management would like to see who among the selected players can win matches for their team and players who can not. Now the question that arises from here is after so many losses and with disappointing, their fans can they form a better team for coming series next year? 

Some players like Asela Gunaratne, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella can make an impact on the opponent with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal stepping up in the boots of seniors and direction from a good coach is also the need of the hour for Sri Lankans. With these players in the squad, they can upset any well-performing team on their day. 

For the next year, there is one Tri-series lined up against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Bangladesh from 17th January and ending on 25th January. Then they have bilateral series against Bangladesh and heading towards Windies in mid-May. The upcoming year thus will be a litmus Test for the Islanders as they will have to put themselves up and perform well beyond what they did in 2017 to be still considered a force to reckon with. 

 

 
 

By Kunal Kataria - 24 Dec, 2017

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