A common principle in life is that what goes up comes down and the same applies to sport. After the meteoric rise of Sri Lankan team in the mid 90s which saw them lifting the 1996 ICC World Cup and gaining prominence in the limited overs format, the 'Islanders' became a formidable force in international cricket with a galaxy of match winners rendering yeoman service to their nation. Three decades down the line, the Sri Lankan team looks a pale shadow of its illustrious past , struggling to compete hard with the best guns in white ball cricket.

Memories of the Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharana's swashbuckling opening salvo, a classy Aravinda De Silva holding fort with talented Roshan Mahanama in the middle, a shrewd tactician Ranatunga playing his uncanny moves on the green turf, the wily old fox Murali casting his web and Chaminda Vaas deceiving the best with the bat are still strong.

The support cast of Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharamasena, Russel Arnold made up a power-packed squad. The next decade again saw a new generation taking the mantle and maintaining Sri Lanka's prowess as a dominant force in white ball cricket.

Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tilkeratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga led the batting efforts, Lasith Malinga spearheaded a pace attack which also had the likes of Nuwan Kulasekara and Suranga Lakmal. All-rounders in Angelo Matthews and Thisara Perera lent fine balance to the squad.

However,the past five odd seasons have seen the team in a persistent stage of transition with no bright light at the end of the tunnel. Sri Lanka find themselves languishing in the bottom half of the table in all three formats of the game. They are at the 6th spot in  Tests, 8th ODIs and in 8 T2oIs. The Lankans only won 7 out of their 21 ODI games and 4 out of their 13 T2OIs.

Sri Lanka have pretty much gone the Pakistan way owing to their over-dependence on a core group of players who had to retire at some point in time.
The succession plan has been weak with the new crop of players lacking both the skill and temperament to succeed in the ever competitive international cricket. They have found it hard to fill into the big shoes of their stalwarts.

For a team which consistently made it to the knockout of major ICC tournaments, an early exit from both the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2016 T2O World Cup was indeed a major disappointment. Big match players are the need of the hour.  The Dickwellas, Fernandos and Shanakas need to deliver consistently in white ball cricket rather than coming up with one-odd flash of brilliance.

The other problem plaguing the Lankans is that of an ageing squad which is seeing the other side of the hill. The likes of Lasith Malinga, Angelo Matthews and Thisara Perara would be playing in their last major tournament.

With their sub continent rivals India at the peaks of their prowess, Pakistan making rapid strides to get into the big league and Bangladesh no longer a minnow in white ball cricket, Sri Lanka need to get their act together sooner or later else they will be struggling at the bottom of the table.