Asia Cup 2008

Did Sri Lanka lose on purpose?

After yesterday’s loss to India, this is what Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said, “I think Pakistan can be a very dangerous side playing a big match in front of its home crowd. So in a way we have cut that element of crowd support out. It is good for India and Sri Lanka they don’t have to worry about this factor.”

He, however, ruled out that the Lankans didn’t try their best even with a depleted bowling attack to upstage India.

The six-wicket Sri Lankan loss to India on Thursday at Karachi, though, has not gone down well in Pakistan. In fact Pakistan greats Waqar Younis and Rameez Raja have slammed the manner of the Lankan loss. They are questioning their will to win the crucial encounter, the result of which led to the hosts being knocked out.

In the live commentary, Rameez Raja said, “We didn’t see a lot of will and determination from Sri Lanka in this game. So many batsmen got starts, but no one really carried on to play a big innings…Sanath Jayasuriya in particular looked a little bored at the crease, when he was looking good he threw away his wicket.”

While Waqar Younis said, “I haven’t seen Mahela Jayawardene really being proactive in Thursday’s game. He is really on his heels, the maneuvering of the bowlers I thought was below par - He himself is always on his toes going to the bowlers.”

This sounds as sour grapes if one thinks about it.

For one, Pakistan played well in only one match against India and just on that merit they cannot progress to the finals. They lost to both India and Sri Lanka once each, and thus were the third best team in the tournament. They have beaten only Hong Kong and that too was very lucky as they lost 6-7 wickets very quickly before their bowlers saved them from embarrassment.

So, Pakistan ex-players should first tell their team to perform and then complain about others.

Tags: Asia Cup 2008, India, Mahela Jayawardene, pakistan, rameez raja, sri lanka, waqar younis