There are many questions post in media about Chamara Kapugederas inclusion in Sri Lankan ODI and T-20 side against India; Local newspaper has gone on to say he is a better model than a cricketer. Mahela Jayawardena spent long time defending his player in the media briefing held in the eve of the one-off t-20 match. Mahela concluded saying he is running out of time in the side. The questions media posted went far as asking should Kapugedara should recall for the team ever again. At the age of 25 Kapugedara had played for 6 years of International Cricket.
But he is yet to make a big impact in International cricket. All the criticism against Kapugedara has a Justification as he averages 22.04 in ODI cricket in 92 matches.
Playing as pure batsman he himself will understand he didn’t do much for the team according to the stats.
In his career he had batted in no 2 to no 9 and 56 out of his 76 innings he batted at no 5 or bellow. He only batted at no 4 or above 20 times in his ODI career. When he batted no 4 he averages 31.75 in 13 innings. Which is much better compared to his overall average of 22.04. When he opens the batting he has an average of 27.25 and strike rate of 88.61 in 4 innings. Mahela Jayawardena Sri Lankan captain who batted no 4 in majority of his career has an average of 35.88 at no.4. But when He went down the order at no.5,6,7 his average dropped down to 26.39, 25.90 and 22.00. Dinesh Chandimal who is now occupying at no.4 has an average of 32.70 in 30 innings. In 4 innings he batted at no.5 his average dropped down to 22.75. He has outstanding average at no.3 of 53.20 in 9 innings. Aravinda De Silva who is the most outstanding batsman in Sri Lankan Cricket has an outstanding average of 39.25 in 197 innings. But when he batted in other positions his best average is 31.63 at no.5 and all other positions from 1-7 his average dropped down below 30 and in no.6 and 7 his average is 26.14 and 23.44. If we go by these stats its obvious its not easy to bat at no.5, 6,7 and if you are in and out of the side it become more difficult to bat in those positions.
From 2011 to 2012 Kapugedera played 10 matches and he only played 2 consecutive matches once in those 2 years that against West Indies in 2011 January and only batted once in those 3 Matches. Out of 10 ODIs between 2011 and 2012 He has batted in only 7 matches. He was come to spotlight in World Cup Final and recent CB series Final where he got pick just for the finals. In world Cup he was picked in place of Chamara Silva who played all the matches except in the final and his semi final struggle against New Zealand nearly cost the game for Sri Lankans. For the people wondering about his performance in 2010 he batted in 9 innings and averages 33.16. His performance in the A tour isn’t good but any of the Sri Lankan A batsman played well. Best Sri Lankan batsman in the tour was M D K Perera with 94 runs in 4 innings at an average of 23.50 and it didn’t deserve a place in the national team either.
If any person screaming about his inclusion in t-20s it is due to his performance in ODIs and not due to his t-20 performances. Against India Kapugedara played 4 matches and scored 102 runs at an average of 34.00 and strike rate of 208.16. His overall stats averaging 19.66 and strike rate of 115.23 in 18 innings is not bad either. In comparison to Dinesh Chandimal in t-20s Kapugedara has faired better considering Chandimal in 9 innings averages 17.88 at a strike rate of 102.54. In comparission to Angelo Mathews, Kapugedara is not far behind in t-20s. Mathews in 22 innings has an average of 23.71 at a strike rate of 113.69.
All the criticism about Kapugedera can be justified by looking at how many games he played. But manner in which he was given the chance it is not justified. Mahela Jayawardena was right when he said every one needs a consistent opportunity. All the medias criticism on Kapugedra is involved with the huge defeat Sri Lanka suffered in the hands of the Indians. But unfortunately Kapugedera didn’t have any involvement in the defeats. His only match in the series was the final match when already India won the Series. It is unfortunate that Kapugedara has to take all the blame for the lost series.
No comments:
Post a Comment