IPL 5: Sangakkara eyes improved fielding, bowling

Kumar Sangakkara, captain of Deccan Chargers, is confident with the squad he has and hopes the players improve on their fielding and bowling as they seek to get a win in IPL 5. After finishing as wooden-spoon holders in the inaugural IPL in 2008, Deccan won the 2009 edition in South Africa. In 2010, they reached the semi-finals where they were knocked out by eventual winners Chennai Super Kings. For the fourth season of the IPL the franchise underwent an overhaul, which saw Sangakkara bought from Kings XI Punjab and named captain of Deccan, but the team finished a disappointing seventh. Reflecting on season four and what needed to improved on in IPL 5, Sangakkara identified much better performances in the field.
“We played some good cricket last year and could have done much better if not for our fielding. The fielding definitely needs improving. We missed the semi-finals by a game last year. This year we need to improve on the fielding front and back it up with good batting and bowling,” Sangakkara told Cricketnext. “We need to believe in our strategies and get competitive totals of at least 160 or contain the other team to a decent total. In the game against Mumbai Indians we needed 18 runs in the last over. We had got into a winning situation but failed to close the match. When we get into situations like that, we need to clinch the games and win.”


Deccan are a team lacking star foreign players. Apart from Sangakkara and South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, the other notable overseas players are JP Duminy, who only recently returned to South Africa’s Test team, and Cameron White, who has fallen out of favour with Australia’s selectors. Sangakkara felt that the domestic talent in the team would be crucial to Deccan’s chances in IPL 5. “We have some quality overseas players as well as some talented local players in our team this year. Foreign players will be the key in providing the right balance to the team, but the performances of the local players will be the key in providing the right balance to the team. The Indian players will form the core,” he said. “Though Ishant [Sharma] is not available this season and [Pragyan] Ojha has moved on, we still have a great mix of players like Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel, Bharat Chipli, and Ankit Sharma. In a Twenty20 game often one individual can win a game, but we need to have everyone chipping in so that we can look towards winning the crown."
Asked about the fatigue factor – Sri Lanka contested the CB Series in Australia followed by the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and then a two-Test series at home against England – coming into the IPL, Sangakkara said it part and parcel of today’s cramped cricket calendar. “It’s not an issue. Rather, you look forward to Twenty20 after such a long season because it is so much fun,” he said. “It was really nice to play the CB Series, it was a great tournament. All three formats of the game are very different. After a long season it will be great to play the Twenty20 format and the IPL is always good quality cricket and also a lot of fun. At the end of the day cricket is your job so you need to stay focused.”
After his stint with Punjab ended in disappointment, Sangakkara moved to Deccan, where he felt the environment was very welcoming. “It [the IPL] has been a great learning experience so far. Kings XI Punjab was a very good experience and we played some good cricket. The transition from KXIP to Deccan Chargers has been smooth,” said Sangakkara. “Deccan are a great team and we have a great management, very good people to work with. With a great coach in Darren Lehmann, I am looking forward to playing quality cricket in this season of the IPL. I have enjoyed every minute of my tenure with Deccan Chargers.”