Thirimanne shows the future is not bleak
Not many of the 26,000 at the SCG knew Lahiru Thirimanne upon his arrival at the crease, yet they rose to give him a warm ovation when he departed short of the three-figure score
Andrew Fernando at the SCG
03-Jan-2013

Lahiru Thirimanne scored 91, only 36 hours after landing in Australia • Getty Images
From all the innings, shots, wickets and catches Mahela Jayawardene oversaw
as captain of Sri Lanka in 2012, his favourite moment was an instance of
exceptional gall from Lahiru Thirimanne. Sri Lanka were five runs short of victory in Pallekele in their first Super Eights match of the World Twenty20, but they only had two balls remaining, with Tim Southee at the
bowling crease, delivering one of the spells of the tournament. Thirimanne,
fresh from the dugout, had not managed a convincing stroke from either of
the balls he had faced, yet on the penultimate delivery of Sri Lanka's
innings, he knelt and played a scoop he had never tried before in
international cricket, sending Southee's yorker over short fine leg for
four, and the stadium into raptures.
"For Lahiru to have the courage to do that and back himself was fantastic,"
Jayawardene said months later, while reflecting on the year's events. "I
think among the young group, he has that mindset to handle those really
tough situations." Courage, self-belief, fortitude. They are the same
virtues that fashioned Thirimanne's 91 in Sydney, and provided the backbone
of Sri Lanka's first innings after the team had shown little of the above
with the bat in their last Test.
Not many of the 26,000 at the SCG knew Thirimanne upon his arrival at the
crease, and until five days before the match, he had no idea he would be
playing a New Year Test either. Yet, when he departed short of the
three-figure score he deserved, the stadium rose to give him a warm
ovation. They only need to think back to last year's Test to recall knocks
that dwarf Thirimanne's 91 in heft, skill and allure, but there was much to
enjoy about the steel in his defense and the defiance in his strokes, and
they did not withhold their appreciation. Perhaps the crowd had also heard
on their earpiece radios by then, that Thirimanne had stepped off a plane
only 36 hours before his innings began.
If Thirimanne was not nervous when he arrived at the crease, the lbw shout
and referral off his first ball certainly would have put him on edge. "I
thought that was out," he said at the end of the day, but he did not allow
that rattling introduction detract from focus or technique. He left
positively and even early in his innings, his scoring strokes were assured.
As he grew more accustomed to the pace of the pitch, he drove the quicks on
the front foot with the same comfort with which he dispatched Nathan Lyon
through the offside, leaning back. Australia cannot have had long to
analyse footage of Thirimanne to deduct a plan of attack, but if there are
glaring vulnerabilities in his game, he did well to hide them. Few Sri
Lankan batsmen graduate from the domestic system without a major weakness
that must be ironed out at the top level.
Thirimanne had replaced Kumar Sangakkara, and the bent-knee cover drive he wielded with increasing command throughout the day bore strong parallels to Sangakkara's signature stroke, only it was less clean. Like Thirimanne, Sangakkara had a limited range of strokes once, but a strong mind and
tireless work ethic transformed him into one of the greats of the modern
game. It is encouraging that Thirimanne already seems to possess an iron
temperament, but he would do well to emulate the hunger and commitment
Sangakkara has ridden to acclaim, if he is to make good on the potential
his innings made plain.
Before receiving the call from Sri Lanka's selectors, Thirimanne's last
match was at the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo, where even the likes
of Mitchell Johnson might find getting the ball above chest height a
fruitless pursuit. The SCG may be the least daunting Australian venue for
Sri Lanka, but the bounce and carry in the pitch on day one is a world
removed from the featherbed on which he scratched out a limited overs
half-century a week ago, and he has had just one training session to
adjust to batting in conditions that have not flattered his teammates in
the first two Tests. Uncluttered by the baggage of the Melbourne massacre
perhaps, Thirimanne relied on resilience to compensate for unfamiliarity.
"It was a bit difficult to adjust, but it's all about mindset," he said.
"You have to adapt to any conditions quickly if you want to play
international cricket. Whether we are playing ODIs or Test we have to get
our mindset right. I adapted really well today. I am disappointed to have
missed a hundred, but I'm happy with my performance."
Just as Rangana Herath has shown Sri Lanka there is life after Muttiah
Muralitharan, there are signs from the likes of Thirimanne and Dinesh
Chandimal that Sri Lanka can be hopeful about their batting beyond the
careers of the four ageing men who have begun winding down their careers.
On day one in Sydney, a 23-year-old propelled Sri Lanka towards
respectability with spunk and composure. The visitors may still be placed
poorly in the match, with a second-string pace attack now tasked with
reining Australia in, but fans at home will take even more pleasure in
Thirimanne's innings than the SCG crowd that witnessed it, because
suddenly, the future does not look so bleak.
Andrew Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. He tweets here