Jayasuriya sets an example for Pakistan

Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis stars Venus and Serena came within a whisker or the proverbial coat of varnish of being confirmed as a sage. As he surveyed the women's draw of the US Open, he predicted that his daughters will be playing the final of this prestigious Grand Slam tournament, the last this Millenium. Venus Williams lost to Martina Hingis in the semi-final, a bruising, energy sapping three-setter in which Venus Williams cramped up. Serena, on the other hand, disposed off Lindsay Davenport in the other semi-final and went on to win the US Open. Richard Williams had been laughed off when he had made his prediction but clearly he had the last laugh, or three quarters of it.

When Mohammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) had fought Sonny Liston, he too had named the precise round in which he would knock out Sonny Liston. Considering that he was a rank outsider, this too was laughed off and he was seen as a comic-figure. The rest is history. The Afro-Americans have never had it easy breaking into the white man's realm. But they have done so, first in boxing, then in athletics then in basketball, baseball and American football. Tennis and golf had eluded them because these were sports one could not pick up off the streets. Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson broke the barrier and in golf, Tiger Woods. Long may the Williams sisters reign in women's tennis. They got there the hard way, through blood, tears, sweat and toil and the tremendous support of their family. Is it just a coincidence that one of the two, Mohammad Ali or Michael Jordan will be named the best sportsman of the twentieth century and both happen to be Afro-Americans? May be social repression is not such a bad thing!

No matter how the rest of the series goes for the Sri Lankans, they have certainly shaken off the disappointment and the humiliation of their pathetic defence of the World Cup. Their win at Kandy was emphatic and was not a fluke. Nor did the absence of Steve Waugh and Gillespie in the second innings have any bearing on the match, not enough, at any rate to alter the result. The test match was won in the first session of the first day when Australia was reduced to 60 for 7.1 felt that Sanath Jayasuriya, the newly appointed captain, let Australia off the hook and he seemed to lack a killer-instinct. He loosened the grip by some mystifying bowling changes and the Australians do not give up easily and Steve Waugh and Gillespie (ironically) were able to restore a respectability to the Australian total. Then again, the Sri Lankans batted carelessly or were blinded by disbelief that they were in the driving seat and it took Aravinda de Silva (who else)) to hold the innings together with masterly innings.

So much fuss has been made of the Javed Miandads, the Brian Laras, the Mark Waughs, the Sachin Tendulkars, that we tend to forget that Aravinda de Silva has been every bit as great a batsman as these.He and Arjuna Ranatunga had been the target of public and official wrath and both were unceremoniously dumped from the one-day squad and Arjuna stripped of his captaincy like an officer is drummed out of the army for misconduct.

In the second innings, the Australians once again collapsed on a turning wicket where Muralitharan extracted prodigious spin as did Shane Warne and Colin Miller. But it was Chaminda Vaas, also under a cloud, who broke the back of the Australian batting, as he had done in the first innings.

Sri Lanka had to chase the modest target of 95 but chasing small targets is not the easiest thing in the world and the Sri Lankans looked palpably nervous and they lost wickets to shots that seemed reckless but betrayed a loss of nerve. Once again, in strode Aravinda de Silva and it was befitting, if not poetic justice, that he should have been joined by Arjuna Ranatunga. Ranatunga was dropped by McGrath and by way of celebration he clouted Warne for a straight six. The spell was broken, the tension snapped and the Sri Lankans were home free. Proving the wisdom of the saying that old is gold.

It had been Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga who had seen Sri Lanka home in the World Cup final in Lahore in 1996. It was particularly heartening to hear the ovation that Arjuna Ranatunga got from the Kandy crowd when he came into bat in the second innings. May be the crowd was trying to tell the cricket board officials something. And that something was that when the chips are down, there's no substitute for experience. They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But it says nothing about an old dog teaching the young ones a few old tricks.

I hope that the members of Pakistan's new cricket set-up listened to that ovation. Jayasuriya has had a dream start as captain. But he will be the first to acknowledge that he needed the old hands, otherwise the dream could have turned into a nightmare. Well played Serena Williams. Well played Sri Lanka. welcome back Aravinda and Arjuna!