Today, Sri Lanka Cricket languishes at the lower levels of the global game. Yet, a quarter century ago, Sri Lanka beat the world and brought home the 1996 World Cup.  Much has been celebrated in the past few days of the 25th anniversary of the victory. But this was no fluke, and completely the result of brilliant planning. In the process, Sri Lanka forever revolutionised the entire sport, in a manner that no team had done before or has done since.  We take a close look at the simple but extensive Management Principles that formed the bedrock of that remarkable campaign; lessons that should be applied again if Sri Lanka Cricket is to drag itself out of the doldrums to reach the pinnacle of the sport once more.    Branding and PR: The support of an entire nation  Rarely if ever has any national sports team in any country received the united support of an entire nation in the manner that Sri Lanka’s 1996 team did.  With multiple bomb blasts decimating the capital city, including the Central Bank blast just a few weeks before the tournament, the very staging of matches in Sri Lanka was thrown into turmoil with Australia deciding not to play in the island nation, and the West Indies following suit.  Government support  The Government of Sri Lanka directly took a hand and launched a massive diplomatic offensive to ensure that the matches in Colombo and Kandy would happen. This was the first time Sri Lanka had even co-hosted a global cricketing event.    Negotiation from a position of strength  Remarkably, at no time did the GoSL grovel and plead. Lakshman Kadirgamar, our brilliant Minister for Foreign Affairs, demonstrated all of his brilliant oratory skills in taking on the naysayers on the world stage. His famous dismissal of Australian spin legend Shane Warne’s “Shopping? Shopping is for sissies! Tell him to come and play cricket!” is legendary.  But behind the scenes, extraordinarily successful diplomatic efforts persuaded the governments of India and Pakistan, and their respective cricket boards, to close ranks and support Sri Lanka in a unique gesture of solidarity in South Asia.    Media support: LTTE ceasefire in Colombo and Kandy  There have been a few curious stoppages in the middle of various wars, notably the Christmas Truce of 1914 during the First World War which included a soccer match between the opposing German and British troops (the UK won 1-0).  The semi-official truce by the LTTE during the 1996 World Cup is another example.  Journalists manning the small Colombo office of The Associated Press (AP), the world’s largest media organisation at the time, played a part by phoning up the LTTE office in London and asked the extraordinary question of whether the world’s most feared terrorist organisation would guarantee not to stage any attacks in Colombo and Kandy during the World Cup. A call was made from LTTE London to LTTE headquarters in the Wanni, and the answer came back affirmative. The AP flashed the story worldwide, and Kadirgamar made full use of this propaganda windfall against the wavering Aussies.    Home crowds: The PR factor  This truce allowed the massive crowd support at the grounds in Colombo and Kandy that Sri Lanka would enjoy during its three home matches.    The value of partnerships: The Indo-Pak solidarity team  Such was the animosity between the nations of India and Pakistan, that it led to several droughts in cricketing series between them due to political tensions. At the time of the 1996 World Cup, they had not played a bilateral series for six years despite being neighbours.  Yet, the GoSL was able to convince India and Pakistan to form a joint team, the ‘Wills India and Pakistan XI”, that came to Sri Lanka and played a 40-overs friendly match in Colombo on February 13, 1996 versus the Sri Lanka team to demonstrate to the word that Sri Lanka was safe. It remains the first and only Indo-Pak joint sports team in history, with none after that one instance.  Captained by Indian skipper Mohamed Azharuddin, the team included Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail who opened the batting, Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Ajay Jadeja, Anil Kumble, Ijaz Ahamed, Ashish Kapoor and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif. As papare bands played and fans danced in the stands of the R. Premadasa Stadium, the joint team successfully chased down Sri Lanka’s score of 168/9 at 171/6, and were awarded the ‘Wills Solidarity Trophy’ with Kumble being Man of the Match.    Psychological toughness: Moulded by fire  Few cricket teams in history have had to deal with the adversity that this Sri Lanka team had faced in the months prior to the World Cup. During the World Series Cup in Australia, the infamous Boxing Day Test had resulted in Umpire Darrel Hair no-balling Muralitharan’s action and much abuse of a player who would go on to become the finest ever bowler in ODIs and Tests. The entire team had stood by Murali and this distasteful episode toughened the team psychologically.    The underdog’s role: Underestimated by competitors  Yet, Sri Lanka entered the 1996 World Cup as underdogs, behind the more favoured Australia, India and Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s past record in World Cups had been dismal, as shown in Fig. 1. In five World Cups, Sri Lanka had won 4 matches and lost 20.    A tiny budget  Cricket had not attracted the funding that it later would and being a cricketer even at national level in Sri Lanka was still not regarded as a full-time job, unlike in the larger cricket playing nations. The domestic tournaments were played by part-timers who almost always had full time jobs in various companies.    Innovation and adaptability to the changing environment  The concept of ‘Pinch Hitting’ in cricket had first appeared as far back as the 1970s in the South African domestic scene. But it was not until 1995 that the ICC formally adopted it with only two fielders permitted outside the circle in the first 15 overs.  Sri Lanka was the first international team to seize upon the change in rules to innovate and change their game. In doing so Sri Lanka changed the ideology of ODI cricket and hastened the introduction of the Twenty Overs format and the vastly successful IPL.  Up to then, batting strategy in ODI cricket followed a well-rehearsed pattern - respect for the new ball, protect the wickets, build a platform and launch a late assault from overs 40-50. However, Sri Lanka changed this forever, introducing a new brand of cricket that aimed at scoring as many runs as possible before field restrictions were applied. The opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were to be the pioneers (some may say guinea pigs) of the explosive attack on bowling over the first 15 overs.    Focus group trials  The World Series Cup of 1995-96 in Australia played just a few weeks before had allowed what can be described as a focus group trial for the new batting strategy. The bowling strategies were also tried out and perfected.  A permanent opening place for Kaluwitharana, the wicketkeeper, was given alongside Jayasuriya to allow him to express himself more freely. Kaluwitharana scored 250 runs at a staggering strike rate of 91.24 and was Sri Lanka's second highest scorer. Jayasuriya too had begun his international career as a spin bowler who could bat in the late order, but had earned his place as an opener after much experimentation.    A sound strategy  A key component of the strategy was that Sri Lanka recognised that having every batsman flailing around during the first 15 overs was not ideal, as the fall of a couple of wickets during this period may have led to a total batting collapse if a few more wickets fell quickly. The team thus developed an amazingly sound strategy that took into consideration the strengths of each player.  Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana were not the best or most experienced batsmen in the team but they fitted the role perfectly. Jayasuriya would end the World Cup with an average score of 36.83 and Kaluwitharana a mere 12.16. They were given the target of scoring 100 runs in 15 overs. Their strike rates in the tournament were an incredible 140.38 by Kaluwitharana and 131.54 by Jayasuriya. The pair scored the targeted runs in three consecutive matches - 117 against India, 113 against Kenya and 121 against England in the quarter finals, at a time when 60 runs was considered a par score in the first 15 overs. In the group match versus India in Delhi, chasing 272, a tall order in that era, the pair started a spectacular assault, smashing 53 runs in 5 overs to enable Sri Lanka to win by 6 wickets.    Teambuilding and guaranteeing tenure  Each player was given his place on the team, and his role. The places were set for the World Cup after months of experimenting in other tournaments. There would be no major changes during the World Cup. Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana would not be in danger of being dropped should they fail.  Sri Lanka played six matches in total in the World Cup - ten of the 11 players played all six of them, with the sole exception being Pushpakumara coming in for two matches in place of Wickremasinghe.    Inimitability of product and strategy  Sri Lanka’s batting and bowling attacks were more like a Chinese buffet, with an extraordinarily diverse range of elements that complemented each other.  This was not a strategy put together overnight, but over many months, with each player being psychologically conditioned to his role. Thus, the strategy was not easily copied by any other team, and in fact none of them tried. Other teams had already set their strategies and couldn’t change in mid tournament to adopt the new style of Sri Lanka for themselves.    Competitor analysis: Frustrating the competition  The batting line-up piled frustration on opposing bowlers throughout the inning. Bowlers who breathed a sigh of relief at having got rid of Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana, found themselves frustrated by the immovable defence of Asanka Gurusinghe, who ensured that there would be no batting collapse by solidly occupying the crease. Gurusinghe was probably the most annoying batsman of the 1996 World Cup as his natural style was to block the ball for a few overs and get his eye in, before launching a bludgeoning attack.  Meanwhile, when two wickets fell, bowlers were presented with the daunting challenge of bowling to Aravinda de Silva, one of the finest bats in the game. Aravinda gave bowlers no respite, as was amply demonstrated in both the semi-final and final when the openers had been dismissed quickly. His batting style contained the purest of cricket strokes, hitting the cover and the extra cover cleanly and crisply, and so precisely that fields were redundant.  When a third wicket fell, in came the most masterful player in the game in that era, Arjuna Ranatunga, who would calmly move around the crease, dispatching the ball to undefended parts of the ground and then literally strolling across for a single.   Contingency planning: Wealth of experience  Behind them stood the highly experienced duo of Roshan Mahanama and Hashan Tillekeratne, more conventional batsmen who would ensure that all 50 overs were batted out; and if necessary supported by all-rounders Kumar Dharmasena and Chaminda Vass. This was not a batting line-up that any team could hope to bowl out. Thus, a total in excess of 250 was guaranteed every time, which was a high total at that time. In the semi-finals, at a time when Sri Lanka was 85 for 4, India was stunned by the calmness of Ranatunga, Roshan Mahanama and Hashan Tillakaratne who pushed the total to 251.    Training and development  In Team Manager Duleep Mendis, himself a distinguished former Captain of Sri Lanka, Coach Dav Whatmore and Physiotherapist Alex Kontouri the Sri Lanka team had the perfect management and support personnel to take care of Training, Development and Logistics matters.    Masters of the environment  Sri Lanka proved to be masters of the South Asian environment, with the matches being played in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This included correctly reading the way pitches would behave throughout a match, something that required enormous experience. In the final versus Australia, although many experts believed that the captain winning the toss should opt to bat first, Ranatunga correctly predicted the massive effect of the night-time dew and sent the Aussies in to bat first.    The perfect bowling attack for the occasion  The accurate medium-pace attack of Vaas and Wickremasinghe; followed by the flat slow pace of Dharmasena that tied down batsmen; Vaas returning at the ‘death’ to tie down and prise out wickets; and the position of the fifth bowler being shared between Jayasuriya and de Silva. In the middle came Muralidaran, the most feared bowler in the world.  All-rounders de Silva and Jayasuriya allowed the strengthening of the batting line-up by sharing a bowling slot. If not for their bowling, the place of Mahanama or Tillekeratne would have had to be given to a specialist bowler.  The three reserves in the 14-man squad were also perfectly selected for the reserve / 12th man roles - fast bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara; batsman Marvan Atapattu; and spinner Upul Chandana.   Market research  Today, players and teams in every sport have the advantage of extensive research with regard to their opponents, from Google to ESPN/Cricinfo, to years of tapes. Back in 1996, before the proper advent of the Internet, Sri Lanka demonstrated the value of research and experience. The team’s management and indeed every player knew the strengths and weaknesses of opposing players inside out. There would be no surprises.    Leadership  Sri Lanka had a unique style of leadership. Although Ranatunga was the undisputed leader, he obtained the views of an extraordinary Leadership Team with a wealth of experience, with bowling and fielding being discussed on the field. Five of them would captain Sri Lanka - Arjuna, Aravinda, Roshan, Hashan, Sanath.    Health and fitness  An extraordinary aspect was that despite the high average age of the team, not a single player suffered any significant injury during the tournament, due mainly to their high level of fitness.  

Copyright Niresh Eliatamby and Nicholas Ruwan Dias Dr. Nicholas Ruwan Dias, BSc, MSc, PhD, and Niresh Eliatamby, LL.B., LL.M., MBA, are Managing Partners of Cogitaro.com, a consultancy that finds practical solutions for challenges facing society, the environment and all types of industries. Dr. Dias is a digital architect and educationist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ruwan@cogitaro.com Eliatamby is an author, journalist and educationist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. niresh@cogitaro.com