Unassuming, loveable, deadly - Herath emerges from the shadows
Rangana Herath's domination in the just-concluded three-Test series against Australia is almost unrivalled and rightly thrusts him into a spotlight he has long deserved
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Aug-2016
Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka's elder statesman and stocky left-arm spinner, may not look like a typical elite athlete. But don't let that fool you. As Geoff Lemon writes in the Guardian, Herath is tough, gritty and, most importantly, "very, very good at his job". As he ran through Australia's batting order time and time again, he "bowled like closing time at the bakery - buy the first, then get six free".
This article was supposed to be a series review, but the series review is: Herath. As the dust settled, his achievement's magnitude grew more distinct. A haul of 28 wickets, at fewer than 13 runs apiece, and one every 31 balls. No left-arm bowler of any stripe has taken more in three Tests. Of all spinners, Abdul Qadir and Muttiah Muralitharan once managed 30. The only greater is Harbhajan Singh's 32 in his 2001 opus (morally 33 given Steve Waugh palmed a stump-bound deflection from its target and was instead out handled the ball). Just those three, then Herath, alongside another series of 28 from Muralitharan. As so often for the current man, their two careers twinned, inseparable.