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  • I would like to remind one of many diehard individual efforts put up by Opener Upul Tharanga during his brief tenure as skipper, becoming the World’s First Skipper to carry his bat throughout the inning in 2017 November, just 18 months ago.

    The difference here is, the opening skipper Upul Tharanga (who was systematically kicked out of 2015 & 2019 WC squads by subjecting to repeated axing and mental suppression – not allowing any international exposure over 6 months period since mid-2018 leading to the WCs) remained unbeaten with one of his many diehard efforts 112* Vs Pk in 2017 Nov (apart from his 90 ball 119 vs SA & 82 ball 95 vs India in Dec 2017 etc) …. to bring the side so close to the winning goal… but ran short of very few runs & unfortunately stranded without partners, more than 2 overs remaining to bring a famous victory .!

    The side led by Upul 18 months ago was filled with the SAME BUNCH of eternally failing culprits responsible for SL hell-hole in past 2 yrs, but continuously enjoying the gratis spots unjustifiably granted in the WC squad as well – ie: Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Dhanjaya de Silva, Milindha Siriwardane etc)…. while the most productive overall pair of ODI run makers during past 2yrs, Upul Tharanga & Niroshan Dickwella being axed out of the scene.!

    They not only preferred proven failures, but as usual parachuted their selective dual sweethearts (Dimuth Karunarathne & Jeevan Mendis ) just before the WC.! These two unjustified lucky players seems to be just reserved to play the most important World Cups, appearing from nowhere (without playing a single ODI over FOUR YEARS since their total failures in 2015 WC – to justify their spots in this WC cup XI, creating another hilarious record by SL in World Cup history). Outrageously, Dimuth was handed over the unearned captaincy too (based on a single Test series success as in previous WC spot, that was granted based on a single Test inning).

    The shameless SL authorities, hell-bent on nepotism (clearly according to school ties – just imagine the odds of having 4 players in the WC squad in reality, including the injury prone former skipper (who hasn’t done anything significant at international level to justify his current form during past 8 months), parachuted new skipper (haven’t played a single ODI for 4 yrs, since totally flopped in 2015-WC), current Minister of sports & CEO SLC are all happened to be in the same camp of happy-go-lucky school mates). The pathetic history seems repeating the entire destructive process caused the 2015-WC flop, despite Sanga & Dilly’s career best efforts seen during that WC.

    Finding productive openers, who could make consistent runs anywhere, in any situation, is not an easy task. This is even much harder in limited over cricket, as evident from futile experiments, ridiculously going on since mid-2013 in SL ODI arena.

  • Stormy- Are you saying Trevor suddenly materialized all the talent you mentioned from Heaven? 😀
    FYI, SL is NOT lacking talented or skilled guys ! The problem here is no proper management to utilize them properly. Local guys with tilted minds, appointed to manage things is the biggest problem in SL cricket. Obviously Hathurusibnghe is no different. Nothing works with such obscured minds at the helm, to guide the ship. They are lacking the proper vision to accomplish the mission, by recognizing right guys for the right spot on pure performance merits rather than personal affinities or opinions.

    For example Trevor would have never put faith on already stamped & discarded shorter format failures like Kusal Mendis or Chandimal, granting a free passage to extend their burden to the team endlessly despite the damage done. Also, any person with a right mind wouldn’t have axed the top order batsman who topped the overall batting record (with 40Av @ 80+ SR) in the side over past two yrs with most runs, hundreds & 50+ …. preferring the worst performer.!

    By doing that SL lost the chance of getting the maximum from the guy who has the SL’s best overall batting record Vs Eng (near 50 Av @ 80+ SR) in the lost Eng series & in Nz as well.

    You have conveniently overlooked the fact that England was on the SAME ORBIT as SL withe identical record in the year before Trevor took over, England in Sept 2015. England’s hopeless Record in the year before from Sep 2014 to Sep 2015: Played 25 ODIs – Won 10 – Lost 15 – W/L: 0.666 – Tied 0 (before Trevor took over, Eng ODI standard was identical to SL)..

    Now look at what he did achieved within 12 months : England’s 1st year progress under Trevor from Sep 2015 – Sep 2016: Played 22 ODIs – Won 14 – Lost 7 – W/L: 2.000 – Tied 1

    Recognizing & Utilizing the best available resources properly & formulating them in to a right combination is the prime duty of a coach… and Not people management, poking in to selections….! as Murali recently commented in media.

  • Unfortunately the REALITY is well beyond SPECULATIONS …! After enjoying twelve months of enormous power beyond a standard Coach & autocratic manipulation of the team, don’t we see a further dgradation in limited over criket ? Is ther any progress in vicinity, despite the upcoming World Cup ? When paid the world’s 3rd highest salary for a coach, it is natural to expect results & a healthy progress in return.

    A Conspiracy theory cannot conceal the naked truth.

    We all thought & hoped recruiting a Coach paying the world’s third highest monthly salary (6 million) offered for such a professional today, would resolve our problems & bring back the glory days. Only England’s Trevor Bayliss and India’s Ravi Shastri are being paid more than Hathurusinghe as a Cricket Coach, currently in the world.

    Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case as we all realized now and SL ODI Cricket had plunged in to deeper devastation, with no return in vicinity under this highly overpaid /overrated coach. There is a contrasting difference in the outcome, compared to the massive progress achieved England today under Bayliss & India under Shastri, substantiating their professional worthiness to earn such salaries.SL ODI Cricket dwindled under Hathurusinghe since he was appointed as head coach in Dec 2017 to date:

    SL played 22 ODIs – Lost 15 – Won 7 – W/L : 0.466 – Tied 0Look at the 4 year progress England made under Trever Bayliss since Sep 2015 to date:

    England’s 1st year progress under Trevor from Sep 2015 – Sep 2016:

    England Played 22 ODIs – Won 14 – Lost 7 – W/L: 2.000 – Tied 1

    Compare above progress with England’s poor Record in the year before Trevor took over Coaching (from Sep 2014 to Sep 2015):

    England Played 25 ODIs – Won 10 – Lost 15 – W/L: 0.666 – Tied 0 (before Trevor took over, Eng ODI standard was somewhat similar to poor SL).

    As clearly seen from above stats, England’s ODIs Win/Lost Ratio has been massively improved from 0.666 to a startling 2.000 starting from the first 12 months itself under Trevor & steadily progressed to highly impressive 2.526 today in 3 years.

    Under Trevor since Sep 2015 to date: Eng: played 68 ODIs – Won 48 – Lost 19 – W/L : 2.526 – Tied 1

    Similarly, India’s steady progress under Shastri . Unlike this hopelessly underperforming substandard SL coach, those two high-profile Coaches had immediately justified their lucrative stipends, by producing well-worthy results for the respective nations, starting from first 12 months of their tenure itself. In that context SL, it is now obvious the blunder made by SLC in Dec 2017. SL should have hired someone like Trevor Bayliss, who coached Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2011, leading to the final of the 2011 World Cup.Now look at some of the unforgivably grave blunders Hathurusinghe had adamantly done during the past 12 months. He inflicted irreparably damage to SL’s Shorter formats, especially to the ODI team, despite upcoming WC.

    Read my recent article in ths regard @ https://www.islandcricket.lk/blogs/sl-cricket-certainly-plunged-in-to-deeper-abyss-under-hathurusinghe/

  • Unfortunately the REALITY is well beyond SPECULATIONS …!

    We all thought & hoped recruiting a Coach paying the world’s third highest monthly salary (6 million) offered for such a professional today, would resolve our problems & bring back the glory days. Only England’s Trevor Bayliss and India’s Ravi Shastri are being paid more than Hathurusinghe as a Cricket Coach, currently in the world.

    Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case as we all realized now and SL ODI Cricket had plunged in to deeper devastation, with no return in vicinity under this highly overpaid /overrated coach. There is a contrasting difference in the outcome, compared to the massive progress achieved England today under Bayliss & India under Shastri, substantiating their professional worthiness to earn such salaries.
    SL ODI Cricket dwindled under Hathurusinghe since he was appointed as head coach in Dec 2017 to date:

    SL played 22 ODIs – Lost 15 – Won 7 – W/L : 0.466 – Tied 0
    Look at the 4 year progress England made under Trever Bayliss since Sep 2015 to date:

    England’s 1st year progress under Trevor from Sep 2015 – Sep 2016:

    England Played 22 ODIs – Won 14 – Lost 7 – W/L: 2.000 – Tied 1

    Compare above progress with England’s poor Record in the year before Trevor took over Coaching (from Sep 2014 to Sep 2015):

    England Played 25 ODIs – Won 10 – Lost 15 – W/L: 0.666 – Tied 0 (before Trevor took over, Eng ODI standard was somewhat similar to poor SL).

    As clearly seen from above stats, England’s ODIs Win/Lost Ratio has been massively improved from 0.666 to a startling 2.000 starting from the first 12 months itself under Trevor & steadily progressed to highly impressive 2.526 today in 3 years.

    Under Trevor since Sep 2015 to date: Eng: played 68 ODIs – Won 48 – Lost 19 – W/L : 2.526 – Tied 1

    Similarly, India’s steady progress under Shastri . Unlike this hopelessly underperforming substandard SL coach, those two high-profile Coaches had immediately justified their lucrative stipends, by producing well-worthy results for the respective nations, starting from first 12 months of their tenure itself. In that context SL, it is now obvious the blunder made by SLC in Dec 2017. SL should have hired someone like Trevor Bayliss, who coached Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2011, leading to the final of the 2011 World Cup.
    Now look at some of the unforgivably grave blunders Hathurusinghe had adamantly done during the past 12 months. He inflicted irreparably damage to SL’s Shorter formats, especially to the ODI team, despite upcoming WC.

    1) Appointing, ODI place unworthy Dinesh Chandimal as the skipper of ODI side.

    Chandimal’s slow & low selfish approach was one of the main causes in many humiliating whitewashes suffered by SL in the past couple of years. (ie: Series whitewash vs Pk in Oct 2017 was mainly due to selfish bottle-necked batting of Chandimal. His contribution in that Whitewash was collecting an appalling 41 runs @ 8 AVERAGE with unbelievably LOW 45 STRIKE RATE, wasting all 5 ODI innings in the series).!

    Past 2.5 yrs since July 2017, this is how this 9-year experienced Chandimal had performed in ODIs:

    last 29 ODI ings – 802 runs @ 29 Av – 67 SR. Is this sufficient to justify a spot (let alone captaincy) in any international team? But in the eyes of this SL Coach, he even deserved the captaincy.

    2) Bringing back the format unsuited Kusal Mendis to extend his massive burden for the ODI team further, despite the upcoming important WC.

    Kusal Mendis had already caused substantial damage to the ODI team & he was significantly responsible for many defeats suffered over past 24 months. He was already tried out & classified as a failure, after offering ample chances (Since Jan 2017 – 40 ODIs – 855 runs @ 22 Av including 8 x 0) & dumped at that point (similar to Chandimal) by the previous selectors. Just look at Kusal Mendis performances & his appalling series records that caused SL, defeat after defeat in the past 18 months highlighted below:

    – Zmb in SL – 5 odis- 115 runs @ 28 av – significantly caused the Historical defeat

    – Ind in SL – 4 odis – 58 runs @ 14 Av – significantly caused this Whitewash

    – Pak in UAE – 2 odis -12 runs @ 6 Av – & Chandimal’s: 5 odis – 41 runs @ 8 Av significantly caused this Whitewash (despite Tharanga’s 200 runs @ 50 Av)

    – Tri-nation series in BD – 5 odis – 83 runs@ 20 Av – (Despite this type of contributions, Opener Tharanga somehow managed to pull the series win with another fine unbeaten *50+ in the final).

    – SA in SL – 5 odis – 86 runs @ 17 Av

    – Asia Cup – 2 odis – 00 runs @ 00 Av

    – Eng in SL – 3 odis – 61 runs @ 20 Av

    – SL in NZ – 3 odis – 38 runs @ 12 Av

    For no justifiable reason, perfect winning combination struck in the last 2 ODIs in SA series in 2018 was disrupted by axing productive Opener Dickwella, just to slot in Kusal Mendis as Opener in Asia Cup by his angel coach Hathurusinghe for no justifiable reason what so ever.

    As everyone expected – except for the adamant SL coach; Kusal Mendis doomed both ODIs with twin upfront zeros, slotted in to bat as an opener from nowhere, in the place of consistent run maker Dickwella, by this coach in Asia Cup. Mendis AVERAGED ZERO in that short lasted important series!

    Repeated upfront collapses triggered by Mendis put lots of unnecessary pressure on rest of the batters, including Opener Tharanga (highest performer for SL in that series too – Av 32). Eventually SL crumble & faced consecutive defeats against bottom ranked Afghanistan & BD. As predicted by many, again this highly overrated coach paved the path for early exit from Asia Cup 2018, thanks to his vision-less, favorites pampering adamant decisions.

    Even though, Mendis scored a flat deck 50exploiting the 2nd string Eng side in the final match of dead rubber (after 23 innings straight failures over 16 months since his last 50), he still AVERAGED 20 in that series Vs Eng to cause the 3rd consecutive home series defeat in 2018, apart from so many in previous year as indicated above list.

    3) It is really sad to note, Kusal Mendis had managed just 268 runs @ 15 Av from 18 Odis played since the coach blindly granted him extended stay in ODI arena to continue further damage, at the expense of ridiculous ELIMINATION OF TOP RANKED ODI run-maker for SL since 2016 – Upul Tharanga – who had accumulated 1,399 runs @ 40 Av – 84 SR from 41 ODIs for SL.

    Worthwhile noting the discarded Opener Upul Tharanga’s consistently outstanding batting Achievements since January 2017:

    ATROCIOUS SELECTION DISCREPANCY at a Glance:

    – UT: 2018 Provincial SUPER 4 DOMESTIC: 396 @ 66 AV / 109 SR – 2 X 100/ 2 X 50 – 242 runs came from 47 x FOURS & 9 x SIXES.! – UT: INTERNATIONALS: 1,315 RUNS @ 40 AV – 88 SR – 742 RUNS CAME FROM 154 X FOURS & 21 X SIXES from 38 odis played SINCE 2017

    – Upul became World’s 3rd best ODI batter in 2017 – – Scoring over 1k (1,011) odi runs @ 48 av- 92 SR in 2017 – 2×100+ & 6 x50+ (only behind Virat & Rohit)

    http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?class=2;id=2017;type=year

    Here is Upul Tharanga’s last 21 ODI Innings Statistics: From Sept 01 , 2017 – to date:

    Odi Innings: 21 – Odi Runs: 702 – Batting Av 37 – Strike Rate: 82 – ONE x 100+ (unbeaten 112* Vs Pk) & 3 x 50+ scores (61 Vs Pk / 95 Vs India / series winning 56 Vs Bangladesh in a final of a triangular series that brought him his 13th MoM award in 2018) .Apart from above 4 x 50+ scores including an unbeaten 112* & a near hundred (95), Tharanga had scored another Couple of near 50 scores (48 & 49 vs India) included in his past 21 ODI innings.

    Upul Tharanga got out for a duck in Dambulla 1st Odi Vs Eng (just the 2nd Duck in 38 innings played over 22 months). But that was enough for the Coach to to dump him witout allowing further participation in the remained 3 ODIs in the series & virtually ending his career just before the upcoming WC!

    AXED THARANGA’s ODI record in 2018 : 39*, 56 ,10 , 9 ,19, 36, 19 ,27 ,36 , 0 (he also made a 95 & 49 in India in Dec 2017 ) – this is just the 2nd duck in 38 odi innings he played since 2017 !

    – His replacement K MENDIS in 2018 : 0, 19, 36, 28, 3, 0, 31, 14, 38, 0, 0, 0 ( 6 SINGLE DIGIT Scores including 5 x DUCKS within 12 innings causing ASIA Cup Exit.

    What justification is there to cutoff such a PROVEN & highly CREDENTIALED ODI player with upfront boundary/six hitting ability at will to be axed like that to place a repeatedly stamped shorter format FAILURE like Kusal Mendis? THAT IMPOSSIBLE THING HAD HAPPENED DUE TO A LAPSE of a Fifty score after JUST 8 INNINGS since his Series WINNING last 50+ in BD Triangular Decider !

    Upul Tharanga was the solitary player who scored heavily for SL since 2017 – missing 3 certain MoM awards for his diehard efforts of 119 r@ 132 SR in SA & his record making unbeaten 112* (carrying the bat through out the inning as World’s first skipper to do so) Vs Pk to win & avoid whitewashes, but sadly ruined by the rest in the crumbling batting unit. Upul also missed another MoM award for his blistering 95 @ 118 SR in India in Dec 2017 series decider, ruined by the rest 8 wkts crumbling for 52 runs, vanishing the chance of a series victory. Upul also became the MoM in the solitary series (in BD triangular) SL won in 2018, before Hathurusinghe axed him for his solitary dip in form for a single series in 2018, after constantly producing runs for SL well over 2 yrs. I SERIOUSLY ASK EVERYONE, IS THE ABOVE RECORD LOOKS LIKE A PLAYER TO BE DUMPED LIKE THAT AT SUCH CRUCIAL A TIME LIKE THIS? Certainly Hathurusinghe is not a saint to keep his favorites like Chandimal (abysmal SR in 60-70s) & Mendis (recent 18 months av 15) despite enormous damage done to ODIs over 3 yrs, while axing the Best batter in the lot.

    Kusal Mendis had managed just 268 runs @ 15 Av from 18 Odis played since the coach blindly granted him extended stay in ODI arena.

    Hpefully the New Chief Selector Mr. Ashantha De Mel will take note of this ongoing ludicrous Circus in ODI arena & take some reasonable action to rectify it, before it is too late.

  • We all thought & hoped recruiting a Coach paying the world’s third highest monthly salary (6 million) offered for such a professional today, would resolve our problems & bring back the glory days. Only England’s Trevor Bayliss and India’s Ravi Shastri are being paid more than Hathurusinghe as a Cricket Coach, currently in the world.

    Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case as we all realized now and SL ODI Cricket had plunged in to deeper devastation, with no return in vicinity under this highly overpaid /overrated coach. There is a contrasting difference in the outcome, compared to the massive progress achieved England today under Bayliss & India under Shastri, substantiating their professional worthiness to earn such salaries.
    SL ODI Cricket dwindled under Hathurusinghe since he was appointed as head coach in Dec 2017 to date:

    SL played 22 ODIs – Lost 15 – Won 7 – W/L : 0.466 – Tied 0
    Look at the 4 year progress England made under Trever Bayliss since Sep 2015 to date:

    England’s 1st year progress under Trevor from Sep 2015 – Sep 2016:

    England Played 22 ODIs – Won 14 – Lost 7 – W/L: 2.000 – Tied 1

    Compare above progress with England’s poor Record in the year before Trevor took over Coaching (from Sep 2014 to Sep 2015):

    England Played 25 ODIs – Won 10 – Lost 15 – W/L: 0.666 – Tied 0 (before Trevor took over, Eng ODI standard was somewhat similar to poor SL).

    As clearly seen from above stats, England’s ODIs Win/Lost Ratio has been massively improved from 0.666 to a startling 2.000 starting from the first 12 months itself under Trevor & steadily progressed to highly impressive 2.526 today in 3 years.

    Under Trevor since Sep 2015 to date: Eng: played 68 ODIs – Won 48 – Lost 19 – W/L : 2.526 – Tied 1

    Similarly, India’s steady progress under Shastri . Unlike this hopelessly underperforming substandard SL coach, those two high-profile Coaches had immediately justified their lucrative stipends, by producing well-worthy results for the respective nations, starting from first 12 months of their tenure itself. In that context SL, it is now obvious the blunder made by SLC in Dec 2017. SL should have hired someone like Trevor Bayliss, who coached Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2011, leading to the final of the 2011 World Cup.
    Now look at some of the unforgivably grave blunders Hathurusinghe had adamantly done during the past 12 months. He inflicted irreparably damage to SL’s Shorter formats, especially to the ODI team, despite upcoming WC.

    1) Appointing, ODI place unworthy Dinesh Chandimal as the skipper of ODI side.

    Chandimal’s slow & low selfish approach was one of the main causes in many humiliating whitewashes suffered by SL in the past couple of years. (ie: Series whitewash vs Pk in Oct 2017 was mainly due to selfish bottle-necked batting of Chandimal. His contribution in that Whitewash was collecting an appalling 41 runs @ 8 AVERAGE with unbelievably LOW 45 STRIKE RATE, wasting all 5 ODI innings in the series).!

    Past 2.5 yrs since July 2017, this is how this 9-year experienced Chandimal had performed in ODIs:

    last 29 ODI ings – 802 runs @ 29 Av – 67 SR. Is this sufficient to justify a spot (let alone captaincy) in any international team? But in the eyes of this SL Coach, he even deserved the captaincy.

    2) Bringing back the format unsuited Kusal Mendis to extend his massive burden for the ODI team further, despite the upcoming important WC.

    Kusal Mendis had already caused substantial damage to the ODI team & he was significantly responsible for many defeats suffered over past 24 months. He was already tried out & classified as a failure, after offering ample chances (Since Jan 2017 – 40 ODIs – 855 runs @ 22 Av including 8 x 0) & dumped at that point (similar to Chandimal) by the previous selectors. Just look at Kusal Mendis performances & his appalling series records that caused SL, defeat after defeat in the past 18 months highlighted below:

    – Zmb in SL – 5 odis- 115 runs @ 28 av – significantly caused the Historical defeat

    – Ind in SL – 4 odis – 58 runs @ 14 Av – significantly caused this Whitewash

    – Pak in UAE – 2 odis -12 runs @ 6 Av – & Chandimal’s: 5 odis – 41 runs @ 8 Av significantly caused this Whitewash (despite Tharanga’s 200 runs @ 50 Av)

    – Tri-nation series in BD – 5 odis – 83 runs@ 20 Av – (Despite this type of contributions, Opener Tharanga somehow managed to pull the series win with another fine unbeaten *50+ in the final).

    – SA in SL – 5 odis – 86 runs @ 17 Av

    – Asia Cup – 2 odis – 00 runs @ 00 Av

    – Eng in SL – 3 odis – 61 runs @ 20 Av

    – SL in NZ – 3 odis – 38 runs @ 12 Av

    For no justifiable reason, perfect winning combination struck in the last 2 ODIs in SA series in 2018 was disrupted by axing productive Opener Dickwella, just to slot in Kusal Mendis as Opener in Asia Cup by his angel coach Hathurusinghe for no justifiable reason what so ever.

    As everyone expected – except for the adamant SL coach; Kusal Mendis doomed both ODIs with twin upfront zeros, slotted in to bat as an opener from nowhere, in the place of consistent run maker Dickwella, by this coach in Asia Cup. Mendis AVERAGED ZERO in that short lasted important series!

    Repeated upfront collapses triggered by Mendis put lots of unnecessary pressure on rest of the batters, including Opener Tharanga (highest performer for SL in that series too – Av 32). Eventually SL crumble & faced consecutive defeats against bottom ranked Afghanistan & BD. As predicted by many, again this highly overrated coach paved the path for early exit from Asia Cup 2018, thanks to his vision-less, favorites pampering adamant decisions.

    Even though, Mendis scored a flat deck 50exploiting the 2nd string Eng side in the final match of dead rubber (after 23 innings straight failures over 16 months since his last 50), he still AVERAGED 20 in that series Vs Eng to cause the 3rd consecutive home series defeat in 2018, apart from so many in previous year as indicated above list.

    3) It is really sad to note, Kusal Mendis had managed just 268 runs @ 15 Av from 18 Odis played since the coach blindly granted him extended stay in ODI arena to continue further damage, at the expense of ridiculous ELIMINATION OF TOP RANKED ODI run-maker for SL since 2016 – Upul Tharanga – who had accumulated 1,399 runs @ 40 Av – 84 SR from 41 ODIs for SL.

    Worthwhile noting the discarded Opener Upul Tharanga’s consistently outstanding batting Achievements since January 2017:

    ATROCIOUS SELECTION DISCREPANCY at a Glance:

    – UT: 2018 Provincial SUPER 4 DOMESTIC: 396 @ 66 AV / 109 SR – 2 X 100/ 2 X 50 – 242 runs came from 47 x FOURS & 9 x SIXES.! – UT: INTERNATIONALS: 1,315 RUNS @ 40 AV – 88 SR – 742 RUNS CAME FROM 154 X FOURS & 21 X SIXES from 38 odis played SINCE 2017

    – Upul became World’s 3rd best ODI batter in 2017 – – Scoring over 1k (1,011) odi runs @ 48 av- 92 SR in 2017 – 2×100+ & 6 x50+ (only behind Virat & Rohit)

    http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?class=2;id=2017;type=year

    Here is Upul Tharanga’s last 21 ODI Innings Statistics: From Sept 01 , 2017 – to date:

    Odi Innings: 21 – Odi Runs: 702 – Batting Av 37 – Strike Rate: 82 – ONE x 100+ (unbeaten 112* Vs Pk) & 3 x 50+ scores (61 Vs Pk / 95 Vs India / series winning 56 Vs Bangladesh in a final of a triangular series that brought him his 13th MoM award in 2018) .Apart from above 4 x 50+ scores including an unbeaten 112* & a near hundred (95), Tharanga had scored another Couple of near 50 scores (48 & 49 vs India) included in his past 21 ODI innings.

    Upul Tharanga got out for a duck in Dambulla 1st Odi Vs Eng (just the 2nd Duck in 38 innings played over 22 months). But that was enough for the Coach to to dump him witout allowing further participation in the remained 3 ODIs in the series & virtually ending his career just before the upcoming WC!

    AXED THARANGA’s ODI record in 2018 : 39*, 56 ,10 , 9 ,19, 36, 19 ,27 ,36 , 0 (he also made a 95 & 49 in India in Dec 2017 ) – this is just the 2nd duck in 38 odi innings he played since 2017 !

    – His replacement K MENDIS in 2018 : 0, 19, 36, 28, 3, 0, 31, 14, 38, 0, 0, 0 ( 6 SINGLE DIGIT Scores including 5 x DUCKS within 12 innings causing ASIA Cup Exit.

    What justification is there to cutoff such a PROVEN & highly CREDENTIALED ODI player with upfront boundary/six hitting ability at will to be axed like that to place a repeatedly stamped shorter format FAILURE like Kusal Mendis? THAT IMPOSSIBLE THING HAD HAPPENED DUE TO A LAPSE of a Fifty score after JUST 8 INNINGS since his Series WINNING last 50+ in BD Triangular Decider !

    Upul Tharanga was the solitary player who scored heavily for SL since 2017 – missing 3 certain MoM awards for his diehard efforts of 119 r@ 132 SR in SA & his record making unbeaten 112* (carrying the bat through out the inning as World’s first skipper to do so) Vs Pk to win & avoid whitewashes, but sadly ruined by the rest in the crumbling batting unit. Upul also missed another MoM award for his blistering 95 @ 118 SR in India in Dec 2017 series decider, ruined by the rest 8 wkts crumbling for 52 runs, vanishing the chance of a series victory. Upul also became the MoM in the solitary series (in BD triangular) SL won in 2018, before Hathurusinghe axed him for his solitary dip in form for a single series in 2018, after constantly producing runs for SL well over 2 yrs. I SERIOUSLY ASK EVERYONE, IS THE ABOVE RECORD LOOKS LIKE A PLAYER TO BE DUMPED LIKE THAT AT SUCH CRUCIAL A TIME LIKE THIS? Certainly Hathurusinghe is not a saint to keep his favorites like Chandimal (abysmal SR in 60-70s) & Mendis (recent 18 months av 15) despite enormous damage done to ODIs over 3 yrs, while axing the Best batter in the lot.

    Kusal Mendis had managed just 268 runs @ 15 Av from 18 Odis played since the coach blindly granted him extended stay in ODI arena.

    Hpefully the New Chief Selector Mr. Ashantha De Mel will take note of this ongoing ludicrous Circus in ODI arena & take some reasonable action to rectify it, before it is too late.

  • We all thought & hoped recruiting a Coach paying the world’s third highest monthly salary (6 million) offered for such a professional today, would resolve our problems & bring back the glory days. Only England’s Trevor Bayliss and India’s Ravi Shastri are being paid more than Hathurusinghe as a Cricket Coach, currently in the world.

    Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case as we all realized now and SL ODI Cricket had plunged in to deeper devastation, with no return in vicinity under this highly overpaid /overrated coach. There is a contrasting difference in the outcome, compared to the massive progress achieved England today under Bayliss & India under Shastri, substantiating their professional worthiness to earn such salaries.
    SL ODI Cricket dwindled under Hathurusinghe since he was appointed as head coach in Dec 2017 to date:

    SL played 22 ODIs – Lost 15 – Won 7 – W/L : 0.466 – Tied 0
    Look at the 4 year progress England made under Trever Bayliss since Sep 2015 to date:

    England’s 1st year progress under Trevor from Sep 2015 – Sep 2016:

    England Played 22 ODIs – Won 14 – Lost 7 – W/L: 2.000 – Tied 1

    Compare above progress with England’s poor Record in the year before Trevor took over Coaching (from Sep 2014 to Sep 2015):

    England Played 25 ODIs – Won 10 – Lost 15 – W/L: 0.666 – Tied 0 (before Trevor took over, Eng ODI standard was somewhat similar to poor SL).

    As clearly seen from above stats, England’s ODIs Win/Lost Ratio has been massively improved from 0.666 to a startling 2.000 starting from the first 12 months itself under Trevor & steadily progressed to highly impressive 2.526 today in 3 years.

    Under Trevor since Sep 2015 to date: Eng: played 68 ODIs – Won 48 – Lost 19 – W/L : 2.526 – Tied 1

    Similarly, India’s steady progress under Shastri . Unlike this hopelessly underperforming substandard SL coach, those two high-profile Coaches had immediately justified their lucrative stipends, by producing well-worthy results for the respective nations, starting from first 12 months of their tenure itself. In that context SL, it is now obvious the blunder made by SLC in Dec 2017. SL should have hired someone like Trevor Bayliss, who coached Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2011, leading to the final of the 2011 World Cup.
    Now look at some of the unforgivably grave blunders Hathurusinghe had adamantly done during the past 12 months. He inflicted irreparably damage to SL’s Shorter formats, especially to the ODI team, despite upcoming WC.

    1) Appointing, ODI place unworthy Dinesh Chandimal as the skipper of ODI side.

    Chandimal’s slow & low selfish approach was one of the main causes in many humiliating whitewashes suffered by SL in the past couple of years. (ie: Series whitewash vs Pk in Oct 2017 was mainly due to selfish bottle-necked batting of Chandimal. His contribution in that Whitewash was collecting an appalling 41 runs @ 8 AVERAGE with unbelievably LOW 45 STRIKE RATE, wasting all 5 ODI innings in the series).!

    Past 2.5 yrs since July 2017, this is how this 9-year experienced Chandimal had performed in ODIs:

    last 29 ODI ings – 802 runs @ 29 Av – 67 SR. Is this sufficient to justify a spot (let alone captaincy) in any international team? But in the eyes of this SL Coach, he even deserved the captaincy.

    2) Bringing back the format unsuited Kusal Mendis to extend his massive burden for the ODI team further, despite the upcoming important WC.

    Kusal Mendis had already caused substantial damage to the ODI team & he was significantly responsible for many defeats suffered over past 24 months. He was already tried out & classified as a failure, after offering ample chances (Since Jan 2017 – 40 ODIs – 855 runs @ 22 Av including 8 x 0) & dumped at that point (similar to Chandimal) by the previous selectors. Just look at Kusal Mendis performances & his appalling series records that caused SL, defeat after defeat in the past 18 months highlighted below:

    – Zmb in SL – 5 odis- 115 runs @ 28 av – significantly caused the Historical defeat

    – Ind in SL – 4 odis – 58 runs @ 14 Av – significantly caused this Whitewash

    – Pak in UAE – 2 odis -12 runs @ 6 Av – & Chandimal’s: 5 odis – 41 runs @ 8 Av significantly caused this Whitewash (despite Tharanga’s 200 runs @ 50 Av)

    – Tri-nation series in BD – 5 odis – 83 runs@ 20 Av – (Despite this type of contributions, Opener Tharanga somehow managed to pull the series win with another fine unbeaten *50+ in the final).

    – SA in SL – 5 odis – 86 runs @ 17 Av

    – Asia Cup – 2 odis – 00 runs @ 00 Av

    – Eng in SL – 3 odis – 61 runs @ 20 Av

    – SL in NZ – 3 odis – 38 runs @ 12 Av

    For no justifiable reason, perfect winning combination struck in the last 2 ODIs in SA series in 2018 was disrupted by axing productive Opener Dickwella, just to slot in Kusal Mendis as Opener in Asia Cup by his angel coach Hathurusinghe for no justifiable reason what so ever.

    As everyone expected – except for the adamant SL coach; Kusal Mendis doomed both ODIs with twin upfront zeros, slotted in to bat as an opener from nowhere, in the place of consistent run maker Dickwella, by this coach in Asia Cup. Mendis AVERAGED ZERO in that short lasted important series!

    Repeated upfront collapses triggered by Mendis put lots of unnecessary pressure on rest of the batters, including Opener Tharanga (highest performer for SL in that series too – Av 32). Eventually SL crumble & faced consecutive defeats against bottom ranked Afghanistan & BD. As predicted by many, again this highly overrated coach paved the path for early exit from Asia Cup 2018, thanks to his vision-less, favorites pampering adamant decisions.

    Even though, Mendis scored a flat deck 50exploiting the 2nd string Eng side in the final match of dead rubber (after 23 innings straight failures over 16 months since his last 50), he still AVERAGED 20 in that series Vs Eng to cause the 3rd consecutive home series defeat in 2018, apart from so many in previous year as indicated above list.

    3) It is really sad to note, Kusal Mendis had managed just 268 runs @ 15 Av from 18 Odis played since the coach blindly granted him extended stay in ODI arena to continue further damage, at the expense of ridiculous ELIMINATION OF TOP RANKED ODI run-maker for SL since 2016 – Upul Tharanga – who had accumulated 1,399 runs @ 40 Av – 84 SR from 41 ODIs for SL.

    Worthwhile noting the discarded Opener Upul Tharanga’s consistently outstanding batting Achievements since January 2017:

    ATROCIOUS SELECTION DISCREPANCY at a Glance:

    – UT: 2018 Provincial SUPER 4 DOMESTIC: 396 @ 66 AV / 109 SR – 2 X 100/ 2 X 50 – 242 runs came from 47 x FOURS & 9 x SIXES.! – UT: INTERNATIONALS: 1,315 RUNS @ 40 AV – 88 SR – 742 RUNS CAME FROM 154 X FOURS & 21 X SIXES from 38 odis played SINCE 2017

    – Upul became World’s 3rd best ODI batter in 2017 – – Scoring over 1k (1,011) odi runs @ 48 av- 92 SR in 2017 – 2×100+ & 6 x50+ (only behind Virat & Rohit)

    http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?class=2;id=2017;type=year

    Here is Upul Tharanga’s last 21 ODI Innings Statistics: From Sept 01 , 2017 – to date:

    Odi Innings: 21 – Odi Runs: 702 – Batting Av 37 – Strike Rate: 82 – ONE x 100+ (unbeaten 112* Vs Pk) & 3 x 50+ scores (61 Vs Pk / 95 Vs India / series winning 56 Vs Bangladesh in a final of a triangular series that brought him his 13th MoM award in 2018) .Apart from above 4 x 50+ scores including an unbeaten 112* & a near hundred (95), Tharanga had scored another Couple of near 50 scores (48 & 49 vs India) included in his past 21 ODI innings.

    Upul Tharanga got out for a duck in Dambulla 1st Odi Vs Eng (just the 2nd Duck in 38 innings played over 22 months). But that was enough for the Coach to to dump him witout allowing further participation in the remained 3 ODIs in the series & virtually ending his career just before the upcoming WC!

    AXED THARANGA’s ODI record in 2018 : 39*, 56 ,10 , 9 ,19, 36, 19 ,27 ,36 , 0 (he also made a 95 & 49 in India in Dec 2017 ) – this is just the 2nd duck in 38 odi innings he played since 2017 !

    – His replacement K MENDIS in 2018 : 0, 19, 36, 28, 3, 0, 31, 14, 38, 0, 0, 0 ( 6 SINGLE DIGIT Scores including 5 x DUCKS within 12 innings causing ASIA Cup Exit.

    What justification is there to cutoff such a PROVEN & highly CREDENTIALED ODI player with upfront boundary/six hitting ability at will to be axed like that to place a repeatedly stamped shorter format FAILURE like Kusal Mendis? THAT IMPOSSIBLE THING HAD HAPPENED DUE TO A LAPSE of a Fifty score after JUST 8 INNINGS since his Series WINNING last 50+ in BD Triangular Decider !

    Upul Tharanga was the solitary player who scored heavily for SL since 2017 – missing 3 certain MoM awards for his diehard efforts of 119 r@ 132 SR in SA & his record making unbeaten 112* (carrying the bat through out the inning as World’s first skipper to do so) Vs Pk to win & avoid whitewashes, but sadly ruined by the rest in the crumbling batting unit. Upul also missed another MoM award for his blistering 95 @ 118 SR in India in Dec 2017 series decider, ruined by the rest 8 wkts crumbling for 52 runs, vanishing the chance of a series victory. Upul also became the MoM in the solitary series (in BD triangular) SL won in 2018, before Hathurusinghe axed him for his solitary dip in form for a single series in 2018, after constantly producing runs for SL well over 2 yrs. I SERIOUSLY ASK EVERYONE, IS THE ABOVE RECORD LOOKS LIKE A PLAYER TO BE DUMPED LIKE THAT AT SUCH CRUCIAL A TIME LIKE THIS? Certainly Hathurusinghe is not a saint to keep his favorites like Chandimal (abysmal SR in 60-70s) & Mendis (recent 18 months av 15) despite enormous damage done to ODIs over 3 yrs, while axing the Best batter in the lot.

    Kusal Mendis had managed just 268 runs @ 15 Av from 18 Odis played since the coach blindly granted him extended stay in ODI arena.

    Hpefully the New Chief Selector Mr. Ashantha De Mel will take note of this ongoing ludicrous Circus in ODI arena & take some reasonable action to rectify it, before it is too late.

  • Despite Upul’s upfront effort in the Final match, loosing DD due to failure of entire middle order is similar to, the scenario that we saw with SL batters slotted in never rising middle order, through out 2017 up to 2018 Asia Cup quick exit, including whitewashes..! But today, the SL’s lone ranger, who battled single-handedly trying to save SL was axed, keeping the entire set of doom boys to carry-on their act.

    Jan 2017 – to Date – SL Top order Batters’ (No1-5 batting positions with even including Upul’s individual big contributions in each series, if deduct that would give even a much worse picture) Collective Yield in Each Series – Compared with “Sri Lanka’s readily Disposable Eternal FRINGE Player of Some -Brainy- People ” :

    1) -SL in SA 5-ODI Series, 2016/17: runs 670 / Av 27 / SR 86
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 189 / Av 38 / SR 98

    11 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    12 notches higher SR than the collective effort
    ————————

    2) – BD in SL 3-ODI Series 2016/17: runs 501 / Av 33 / SR 74
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 119 / Av 40 / SR 85
    17 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    11 notches higher SR than the collective effort
    ————————

    3) – ICC-CT- in Eng 3-ODIs 2016/17: runs 544 / Av 42 / SR 91
    – Upul Tharanga (1 odi ): runs 57 / Av 57 / SR 83

    15 notches higher Av (in solitary Odi he played) than the collective effort of 3 odis
    8 notches lower SR (in solitary Odi he played) than the collective effort of 3 odis
    ——————————-

    4) – Zmb in SL 3-ODI Series 2016/17: runs 1,068 / Av 56 / SR 91
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 226 / Av 113 / SR 103

    57 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    12 notches higher SR than the collective effort
    ————————————–

    5) – Ind in SL 5-ODI Series 2017 : runs 713 / Av 29 / SR 71
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 70 / Av 23 / SR 109

    6 notches lower Av than the collective effort <<<<<- His 1st Lower Av recorded in 10 series played to date since Jan 2017
    38 notches higher SR than the collective effort (The lower Av was compensated with 38 notches higher SR)
    ————————————————-

    6) – Pk Vs SL 5-ODI Series 2017/18 : runs 506 / Av 21 / SR 66
    (in UAE)
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 199 / Av 50 / SR 72

    29 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    6 notches higher SR than the collective effort
    ————————————————-

    7) – SL in Ind 5-ODI Series 2017/18 : runs 453 / Av 38 / SR 86
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 151 / Av 50 / SR 106

    12 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    20 notches higher SR than the collective effort
    ———————————————-

    8) Tri-nation (SL,BD,WI) 5 –odi 2018: : runs 654 / Av 34 / SR 74
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 148 / Av 37 / SR 67

    3 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    7 notches lower SR than the collective effort <<<<<< His solitary lower SR recorded in these 10 Series !

    *** The Solitary lower SR (in 10 series) was compensated with winning the final match MoM award to seal the series.!
    —————————————–

    9) – SA in SL 5-ODI Series 2018 : runs 735 / Av 32 / SR 92
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 93 / Av 19 / SR 93

    13 notches lower Av than the collective effort <<<<<< ** His 2nd Lower Av recorded in these 10 series!
    1 notch higher SR than the collective effort
    ———————–

    10) Asia Cup in UAE 2-ODIs 2018 : runs 152 / Av 15 / SR 64
    – Upul Tharanga : runs 63 / Av 32 / SR 79

    17 notches higher Av than the collective effort
    15 notches higher SR than the collective effort
    ————————–

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