‘Hard to predict my thoughts on retirement’: Sangakkara
Tuesday, 6 January 2015 01:14
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ESPNCricinfo: Kumar Sangakkara said his Test future remained undecided, following the 203 at the Basin Reserve that brought him to within one-double hundred of equaling Donald Bradman’s 65-year record. Sangakkara had originally planned to quit all formats following the World Cup, which would have made the ongoing match his final Test. However, he has reconsidered that decision after receiving requests to stay, from the selectors and Angelo Mathews, among others.
“I would love to equal Bradman,” Sangakkara said. “It just depends on how everything pans out after this World Cup. It’s really hard to predict what will happen and what my thoughts will be about my future. I’ve promised the selectors that I’ll really have a chat and reconsider to see if there are a few more months of cricket in me, Test-wise.
“I actually think the desire is always there. It’s never the lack of desire or the lack of pride you take in playing for your country that makes you take a decision to say: ‘That’s enough’. It’s just a case of sometimes just knowing it. You could be staying at home, you could be playing with your kids, you could be talking with your family or having dinner somewhere, and the thought could hit you: ‘Maybe this is the right time.’ It’s a really tough decision to make, but the important thing is that that window of opportunity to walk out on top is really small. If you miss it, you don’t know what will happen after that.”
Sangakkara said he valued this double-hundred more than most because it came away from home, and in a difficult match situation. Sri Lanka had been 78 for 5, still 143 runs adrift of New Zealand, at the start of the day, when Dinesh Chandimal joined Sangakkara at the crease. The pair put on 130 together, placing Sri Lanka within sight of a first-innings lead which had seemed unlikely on the first evening.
“At 78 for 5 it was just a case of ensuring that we make sure to bat to score runs, rather than survive,” Sangakkara said. “It’s really easy to go into a shell at that moment and go into a mindset where you think about just seeing tough times out rather than waiting to capitalise on loose balls. The moment you try and score, the pressure is always on the bowling side to keep bowling good balls.
“The Kiwi attack has been fantastic in both games, in the sense that they’re very disciplined. But the difference comes when they’re under pressure to keep bowling those good balls, and the moment they make a mistake, if that ball goes for a boundary, that changes momentum. That’s what we did pretty well in the morning, and we tried to keep doing that right throughout the innings.”
Sangakkara said Chandimal’s 67 was vital to Sri Lanka’s recovery in the Test, and suggested that he should have a consistent place in the XI. Chandimal has been in and out of the Test side over the past 10 months, in part, due to his own lack of form. He did not play in Christchurch, but made immediate impact in Wellington.
“Watching Chandimal bat at the other end - he kept it really solid and very simple, and that really helps,” Sangakkara said. “With Chandi it’s just a case of giving opportunities. If you take young Sri Lankan batting, you have Thirimanne and Chandimal to lead the pack. You have Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva as a solid opening pair, and you build the rest of the batsmen around them. Then you have Angelo Mathews who’s been amazing in the last year, so you have five good quality batsmen that you need to continue playing and trusting.
“That’s the key word for Sri Lankan cricket. It’s trust. They need to make mistakes, learn, and score runs. I wasn’t batting anywhere close to what Dinesh and Thiri have been batting when I was in my mid-20s. It was a daily struggle for me. Things come right and things come good as long as you get opportunities.”
Sangakkara said that the pitch had not yet begun to take enough turn to make Rangana Herath a major force, but hoped the visiting attack would work together to strike in the third innings. “There was a bit of turn today, though there isn’t a huge amount of rough. Herath’s very, very good with flight and pace. It’s going to be a team effort. It’s not just going to be Herath or one fast bowler. We need to work in partnerships and really build pressure, and ensure that runs come at a price, and we land the ball in good enough areas to induce a nick or a mistake from a batsman.”
