For Sri Lanka it's all downhill really from here. They seem to be in trouble now and with Jayasuriya and Murili nearing retirement, even Vaas, they're going to have a bad period.
They havn't been competitive this series. I remember right before it began Sangakkara posting that this was between the top 3 sides in the world. Sri Lanka arn't playing like it. However, India have been the real surprises and they are playing like one of the best sides. Especially with the ball. With the bat, they've had their good days and bad days.
I'm glad they're getting rid of the tri-series in future. It's too long, it's often quite one sided for one or two sides.
I can see Sri Lanka trying to push things together. One of the reasons they are struggling is because of the choices in their lineup, there's a lot of youth in there. On that note, I didn't hear what happened to Upul Tharanga, who seemed settled and might have been a useful player against attacking bowlers.
Another problem they have is that Chamara Silva is desperately out of form. Whereas India or Australia can hang on to out of form players in spite of their squads, Sri Lanka simply have little choice. However, now they face a dead rubber and it would be nice to think they will give the squad a proper rotation. Considering Maharoof and Vaas, I'm actually rather surprised Welegedara has yet to feature.
In fact I'm constantly surprised Maharoof is still in the side, or that he gets wickets. Accuracy is one thing, but he lacks variation and I don't think he is quick enough to just bowl straight and hope on anything other than a ropey wicket with dodgy bounce. The stats confer an ugly analysis; at home, he averages a spiteful 20, for less than 4 an over, but against the opposition on their own turf, he averages 32, for more than 5 an over.
It's not been helpful that it has been a tri-series against two decent teams, instead of say, a series against the West Indies. In such a period, the outside players just need to get a good performance to feel a boost and although a big game against Australia is a genuine rubber stamp, new players need confidence from where ever they can find it.
For the tri-series, at least it has been a fitting send-off, if not on the points table, but certainly on the scorecards. I don't think this is the end of the micro-tournament in Australia, though. Although scheduling predicts simple ODI series for the next couple of years, I expect we shall eventually see a revamp in the form of a T20 tournament. Such a format could restore interest in cricket at the end of a long season as spectators turn towards football. Whereas there are up to 15 ODIs in 5 weeks, two 5 match series and a T20 series could be held in the same time frame. Alternately, two 3 match series and a T20 series could be held in 3 or 4 weeks worth of schedule.
.
. Sreesanth looks good sitting on bench. Lets keep him there only. Sehwag should be picked instead of Dadaji and play lower down the order rather than up the order.
