Mahela's unsung achievement
In celebrating Mahela Jayawardene's 100th Test, Rex Clementine pays tribute to Sri Lanka's captain in the Sunday Island , listing his achievements and pitfalls in a fulfilling 11-year Test career
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
In celebrating Mahela Jayawardene's 100th Test, Rex Clementine pays tribute to Sri Lanka's captain in the Sunday Island, listing his achievements and pitfalls in a fulfilling 11-year Test career.
He has also had complete control of things and has stipulated what is needed of a Sri Lankan cricketer as you time and again witness exemplary behavior by local cricketers on the field. You hardly remember when a Sri Lankan was called up to the Match Referee’s room for excessive appealing, showing dissent or for any other misdemeanor and the end result has been the country winning back to back Spirit of Cricket Awards.
There may be slight hiccups but, what is most encouraging is that Sri Lanka has graduated into a very respectable Test playing force. Without being much noticed they have achieved a position that the others are still trying to make a reality. S.R. Pathiravitana in the Lankan daily, the Sunday Times, looks back at the ascendancy in the longer duration of the game.
Sri Lanka came to fame in the World arena by winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996 and thus became the new kids in the blocks in the world arena, but, still they did not look at them as a serious Test playing nation. Nevertheless they gradually upgraded their game so that they reached the top four in Test recognition and have managed to stay there for more than two years now.
Like most of the Indian sub-continent teams Sri Lanka is also another side that nurtures its players for a long time and expectedly it has paid its own dividends for its faithfulness.
In the Sunday Observer, Elmo Rodrigopulle feels Tillakaratne Dilshan's confidence and consistency will only improve if the selectors give him continuity in all forms of the game.