Well done LIONS! I am still proud to be a Sri Lankan!

I was planning to write something on my blog today with a winning mind ... It is interesting, even after seeing our boys get defeated by Indians in the Worldcup final 2011, still I can write something with a winning mind set.

I saw on the facebook, some Sri Lankans are criticizing our players who had been their champions and heros until they scored 275 by batting first in the final. Isn't it unfair?

Our players played really well throughout the tournament and provided fantastic cricket entertainment to Sri Lankan cricket lovers. Check out the following records:

• Dilshan is the No. 1 run scorer in this worldcup (500 runs in 9 matches, with an average of 62.5, and with a strike rate of 90.74)
• Sangakkara and Tharanga holding 3rd and 5th position in that list scoring 465 and 395 respectively.
• Do not forget, Mahela has scored more than 300 runs—304 to be exact—with the stunning inning he played in the final by scoring unbeaten 103.
• Highest batting average of 93.00 hold by Sangakkara beating the "Man of the Series"—Yuvraj Signh.
• Mehela, Dilshan, and Tharanga scored 2 centuries each while Sanga and Dilshan scoring 4 half centuries (50s) each during this tournament.
• Dilshan scored the 3rd highest score (144), while Tharanga scoring the 5th highest score (133) in the tournament.
• The legend Murali is in the 5th position by taking 15 wickets in the bowlers list. Do not forget the great commitment he showed even with having an injury.
• Malinga holds the 2nd place of best bowling figures list by taking 6 wickets for 38 runs including a hat-trick.
  
• The best wicket keeper in the tournament is Sangakkara. He has contributed in 14 dismissals by taking 10 catches and 4 stumping chances.
• Most number of catches in the tournament has been taken by Mahela (9 catches).
• Highest partnership of the tournament is 282 runs by Dilshan and Tharanga against Zimbabwe. Well, not only that, they even hold the 2nd place by scoring 231 against England with 2 unbeaten centuries.

I have a question for the guys who criticize the team in facebook. After reading all these records, are you guys still criticizing our players?

One would ask, don't you have a criticism against anyone? My answer is, "Yes I have ..."

That is against poor Chamara Silva. He played as a specialist batsman in the worldcup team. Following is his performance:

• Against Canada - dnb; Pakistan - 57 runs 78 balls (SL lost); Kenya - dnb; Australia - dnb; Zimbabwe - 4 runs 2 balls; New Zealand - 3 runs 5 balls; Quarter Final - dnb; Semi final - 13 runs 25 balls
  8 matches, 77 runs, 110 balls
  Average 19.25 (4 innings)
  Sangakkara took time until the final match to realize that there's no point of keeping him in the team anymore.
  

Other than that, it has been a wonderful overall performance by the Sri Lankan team.

I changed my status in facebook to "5 runs to loose the worldcup 2011 ... CONGRATULATIONS going out to India ... and for the LIONS of my country ... well played guys!!! Runners up!!!" when I realized that we're definitely going to loose the match today.

Right after loosing the match, I changed it to "Finally, Sanga's luck, Mahela's courage, Slingas of Maliga, and Dushra's from the legend Murali were not enough to bring the cup home ... but ... many congratulations to my team ... still I am proud to be a Sri Lankan :)."

Yes, I am still proud to be a Sri Lankan! Many CONGRATULATIONS to our Sri Lankan team and thank you guys for the great entertainment provided.

Regards,
CJ

China Passes U.S. As World's Top Car Market

BEIJING—Automobile sales in China last year raced past the U.S. market for the first time to take the top spot, as Chinese government incentives helped sales surge 46% from a year earlier to 13.6 million vehicles amid a broader global slowdown.

December auto sales in China nearly doubled, increasing 92% from a year earlier to 1.41 million vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Monday.

Record sales in China last year coincided with the lowest sales total in the U.S. since 1982, as the credit crisis and the resulting slowdown in the economy prompted U.S. consumers to scale down ...

Source: http://online.wsj.com/

One of the Best Cricket Catches Ever

Bill Gates on Sri Lanka

To Get Rid of the Sad Feelings in My Mind

My prediction of becoming world champions again under the captaincy of "Sanga" could have been true last night, if our team played at the same pace they used to play throughout the rest of the tournament. Anyway, I don’t want to criticize the captaincy or players by writing this note, because they brought wonderful entertainment by playing good cricket—I have few things to mention here to get rid of the sad feelings in my mind:

• Although he scored some runs, "Sanga" didn’t lead the team: I must say that World Cup final match is not the correct time to try new things out. I have few question here:
  
  
  
  • How did Jehan Mubharak come in 3rd in the batting lineup? I heard the same question was raised by both international and local commentators during the match. One might ask "what if that worked?" I would say, "Ya, that’s true ... but, the final match is not the correct time to take that sort of a risk."
  
  
  • Why was Isuru Udana placed before Angelo Mathews in the batting lineup? Angelo Mathews played some sensible cricket throughout the tournament. He played well even though he was sent to the field during the latter stages of the matches. More importantly he remained not out, like he did yesterday. International commentators mentioned that he is an active player who is always "in the game" and not switched off during play. Instead of just playing the game, he has a good idea about what’s happening around. I would like to predict one more thing here. I feel Angelo Mathews will make a good captain some day. He demonstrates good qualities of a captain.
    
  
  
• Sri Lankan players batted without responsibility from my opinion. They should have been more responsible, since it was the final match. Dilshan failed for the second time in this tournament at a crucial time. However, no one can blame at him because you can’t rely on one player at all times:
  
  
  
  • What did Mahela do? Didn’t he see that there was a slip fielder? As the former captain of the team, he should have played more responsibly.
  
  
  • Why did Chamara Silva play in the final game? He didn’t play at least one good inning throughout the tournament. Wasn’t there a replacement for him? Thilan Thushara, an all-rounder should have been a good replacement. If they wanted a batsman there were players like Indika De Seram.

Anyway now it’s all done, and I would like to congratulate the Sri Lankan team for becoming the runners-up—and thank them for the wonderful cricket they played throughout the tournament. At the same time, I wish good luck to Sangakkara for his guidance in becoming the runner-up team.

If it was an ordinary match vs. Pakistan I would say they can take this as a lesson and do better in future. But, It was the final match of the ICC T-20 World Championship 2009!

Fantastic Fielding Effort ... Very Clever ...!

Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews saving a six at the boundary line, during the match vs. West Indies in ICC T20-Twenty World Championship.
Not only the awesome fielding effort, he hits the stumps directly with his throw. wow!

New Captain ... New Beginning ...!

Sri Lankan team has begun a new journey to be world champions again with the new captain Kumar Sangakkara.

Congratulations Kumar ...!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Sri Lanka ...!

I am proud to be a Kandyan ... proud to be a Sri Lankan too.

Regards,
CJ