With Sri Lankan cricket experiencing yet another low during the third One-Day International against India on Sunday (August 27), former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) should urge former captain Kumar Sangakkara to come out of retirement and play for at least a year.
While there is no denying that Sri Lankan cricket is going through a transition phase, for the time being, their consistent poor performances have raised doubts over whether they will be able to mould into a good side at the quickest. The ongoing year has been nothing less than a disaster for the Islanders. After being whitewashed in Tests and ODI series at the start of the year in South Africa, a T20I series win over the Proteas and Australia gave some respite.
However, failure to win the home series against Bangladesh, group-stage exit in the Champions Trophy and a shocking ODI series loss at home to Zimbabwe compounded their problems. And as if those poor results were not enough, India inflicted a humiliating whitewash on Dinesh Chandimal & Co. to further worsen the condition.
And any hopes of seeing a fight back from them further evaporated when they lost the third ODI by six wickets. Such has been the agony in the country, that the fans, after protesting following the defeat in the first ODI, once again expressed their displeasure by throwing bottles on the ground and interrupting the game for a while on Sunday.
Meanwhile, as a result of the defeat, the hosts have not only lost the five-match series, but they are now in danger of losing out on an automatic selection for the next World Cup. Currently ranked eighth in ODIs, Sri Lanka needed to win two games in the series to seal their place in the World Cup and will now have to win the remaining two games to ensure an automatic qualification for the next World Cup.
However, considering their current form, it looks unlikely that they would be able to beat India in two consecutive games and with no player in the team who can guide them during this tough phase, Ganguly feels Sangakkara should ply his trade for the country for at least a year.
The left-handed batsman retired in 2015 but has been playing club and franchise cricket across the globe. During this year’s county championship in England, as he scored a staggering 1086 runs in just seven outings with the help of six centuries and a couple of fifties. Even in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League, he has looked in good form, scoring 215 runs in eight matches.
Hindi news outlet Aaj Tak’s journalist Vikrant Gupta took to Twitter to reveal Ganguly’s suggestion for Sri Lanka cricket.
.@SGanguly99 suggests @OfficialSLC should ask @KumarSanga2 to come out of retirement and play for SL for at least a year
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 27, 2017