Suraj Mohamed is another in the line of Sri Lankan spinners. He is now recognised as a good offspinner, but Suraj began his career as a right-arm fast bowler at junior level. When his school found that they had no spinner in their Under-15 side, the coach requested him to switch over to bowling offbreaks. Starting as a part-time bowler, he was soon picking up wickets on a regular basis and started representing Matara SC while still at school. Twenty-three wickets in four matches in the U-23 tournament in 2003-04 did not go unnoticed by Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene, who brought him over to SSC. He benefited immensely in the presence of Atapattu and Jayawardene, learning how to bowl under pressure and to different fields. He insists, though, that the doosra is best left to Muttiah Muralitharan to perfect. "I will stick to my offbreaks and topspinners." He picked up 55 first-class wickets in 2005-06 but fell away in the next three seasons. However, he struck form again in 2008-09, taking 43 wickets and an injury to Murali before the Galle Test against Pakistan led to a national call-up.
Saadi Thawfeeq July 2009