Sri Rahula Make Do with Minimal Resources
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Thursday 26th February, 2009 15 ome say this and some say Though it has not been satis- tion government led by Premier Mahela and Commercialism Letter that. Mahela Jayawardene factorily substantiated through Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Sanyway announced his research, Sri Lanka became a Mahela Jayawardene was After opting to give preference Mahela or Aravinda retirement from the captaincy on vastly different country even at a born in 1977. to the IPL, which some now call The day Dilshan erred February 11, following a bad patch practical level, both economically The generation which was “Illamak Peduna Lamayo” [Boy, a The first ever international Twenty/20 on with the bat. That was after being and culturally, after the then Prime born in and around this time (valuable) mine was discovered!] Now there is also a debate Sri Lanka soil, at the R. Premadasa Stadium the National cricket captain for Minister J. R. Jayewardene (before belongs to a different world alto- over a Test series in England, whether Mahela was the best bat- Colombo, had a full house, with the crowds three years since taking it over becoming the first Executive gether. Though it has not been Mahela’s true nature became evi- man of the post-Test era of Sri anticipating an absorbing contest. from Marvan Atapattu in February President of Sri Lanka under a formally elaborated, most are dent. It was also apparent that the Lankan cricket. The Indians, fresh after their 4-1 triumph 2006. constitution which he himself familiar with this fact. 31-year-old at some stages of the In the post-independence peri- in the five match ODIs series, were the obvi- Does his departure mark an drew up), introduced the open There is a stark difference in controversy was unaware of any od, the renowned Mahadevan ous favourites. end of an era? Or else, could it economy in 1977, in place of a terms of tastes, ambitions, wrongdoing: A clear indication of Sathasivam used to thrash any T. M. Dilshan, in his new role as captain, instead be called the beginning of closed, national economic system lifestyle, morals and values the ways of his generation. They bowling attack, at the Oval, won the vital toss and opted to bat first. The a new era? that prevailed then under a coali- between the generations that don’t see anything wrong with Colombo; that too had often been Lankans got off to a flying start, with the skip- An undisputed master with after a heavy booze! per leading from the front, with an aggressive the willow in the middle, Mahela being rated by some in 61 while veteran Sanath Jayasuriya bright- Jayawardene, though, will not Adios Mahela! this best batsmen’s list in the ened proceedings with yet another cameo of leave all that a great mark as he country, which has over a century 33, which set the stage for a match winning relinquishes his leadership role. old cricket history, will surely total. Why? What follows is an anger the staunch Aravinda de But the surprise decision to send in argument on this vague yet per- Silva fans. Jehan Mubarak, at the fall of the first wicket tinent point. How can two batsmen from stifled the momentum set by the openers, as Jayawardene and two different eras be compared to he hung around for 13 runs from 19 balls. each other? Any cricket pundit, Jayewardene Chamara Kapugedara did better, scoring though, in this assessment, would 16 runs in nine balls, while Chamara Silva agree that Duleep Mendis and Roy made 21 runs in 18 balls, which gave Sri Dias, de Silva and Ranatunga had Lanka a fighting total of 171 runs for the to play cricket in a world dominat- Indians to chase. ed by a fierce battalion of fast Considering their powerful batting line bowlers like Andy Roberts, Joel up, the target appeared within their reach, as Garner, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev to they had quality batsmen such as Gautham Dennis Lillie and sir Richard Gambir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, limitless selling. Hadlee. Asian countries had top Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Standing for moral spinners of the calibre of The Lankan spinners Malinga Bandara, values over com- Prasanna, Bedi, Venkataraghavan Sanath Jayasuriya together with Jehan mercialism is an and Abdul Qadir. It was an age Mubarak did not permit the Indians to have unknown factor for where bowlers held sway over the things their own way. these ‘new kids’. batsmen in contrast to what’s hap- This left the Indians at a precarious 115 ‘…During his pening today. for seven. It was against this backdrop, that three-year tenure, he led Sri In hindsight, de Silva had to the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, turned lived before and after 1977 Lanka in 26 Tests (excluding play in a side considered under- the game around in their favour, with an and the advent of the Open the Karachi Test against dogs during most parts of his unbroken partnership of 59 runs to snatch vic- Economy when the island was Pakistan) and 97 ODIs. He had career. De Silva, in the meantime, tory from the jaws of defeat, with four balls to exposed to the global commer- a win/loss ratio in Tests of had to carry the burden of batting cial and capitalist economic 62.50%, the highest by any Sri of the entire side, like what hap- spare. forces sans any barriers. Lanka captain and a win ratio pened in the 1996 World Cup final. If you focus on what caused this deba- Before Jayawardene, of 57% in ODIs. As captain, he Therefore, in this case, purely sta- cle, one may point the finger at the captain, Warnapura, Mendis, D. S., averaged 64.70 in Tests, scor- tistical matching between for his poor judgment for failing to pick the Madugalle, Arjuna, Aravinda, ing 11 centuries in the last Aravinda and Mahela will not pro- right bowler that the situation demanded. His Hashan, Sanath and Marvan, three years. He averaged 34.22 vide a true picture. handing over the cherry to Dilhara Fernando, every single National skipper as ODI captain.’ In spite of his flair for compact who has been the bane of Sri Lanka, proved belonged, both chronologically – Media release that batsmanship and his many impec- to be disastrous. and ideologically, to the pre-Open announced Jayawardene’s cable innings, Jayawardene leaves True to form, his first two deliveries were Economy period. stepping down from the cap- an indelible mark in Sri Lanka wides. To make matters worse, he sent down Marvan Atapattu of course taincy on Feb. 11. cricket history. a ball wide off the leg side, which raced to the was born in 1970 and all the oth- But nearly 10 days after he He is the one who led in crick- ropes, in an over that produced 16 valuable ers were before him. announced his intention to et here the uncontrolled desire for runs. They belonged to a serene, resign, Jayawardene’s leader- money, for ads and endorsements. To add insult to injury, in the penultimate slow-phase and relatively tradi- ship credentials were put under The run for filthy lucre — shedding over Dilshan appeared to have lost his sense tional age. The strokes they scrutiny by none other than all valid norms set forth by the of reasoning, when he called upon Dilhara to played were classical and so Australian skipper Ricky predecessors — was many times bowl. That over went for 13 runs. were the songs they heard. The Ponting, who said he would multiplied under his leadership. The sensible thing would have been to society surrounding them was always put his country first and Now the stage is set for an call on Sanath to bowl in such a crisis situa- Mahela Jayawardene was the first not as hubbub and commer- was ready to skip the IPL ‘ideal’ successor to Jayawardene. tion. He has been successful in the past bowl- SL captain to emerge after the cialised as it became after because some vital tours were Enter Sangakkara, the most ing under tense conditions, and maybe Sri introduction of the Open Economy Jayewardene’s constitutional rev- ahead in their international cal- demanding figure amongst sport- Lanka would have triumphed at the end. in Sri Lanka. (Files) olution. endar. ing models now! Hail the sons of Rex Wijewardene, the Open Economy! Dehiwela. East-West thrash Ceylinco SC ‘A’ In Cricket’s Matrix… League winners, East West (Match reduced to 47 overs a side due to Marketing ‘A’ were home for lunch, as wet wicket) Sri Rahula make do with they whipped wooden spoonists, Scores: F&G Fingara invited to Ceylinco SC ‘A’by six wickets in the 16th bat 173 in 38.5 overs (D. Mapa 20, I. de Singer-MCA Premier League, knock-out Saram 25, N. Randika 56, A. minimal resources segment, first quarter final at the Rideegammanagedera 31, Upul Colombo Oval, on Tuesday. Chandana 20, T. Kottahewa 4/30, H. Scores: Vithana 2/30, D. Indika 2/30) Ceylinco SC ‘A’ 99 in 31.5 overs (P. Seyan Bank ‘A’ 109 in 32 overs. (K. Pallewela 37, Amil Prasad 2/20, Dinuk Gunawardena 35, A. Ganegama 2/17, S. Hettiarachchi 3/13, Sachitra Serasinghe Senanayake 3/25, Upul Chandana 4/30) 2/22) At Colts Grounds QF4: EWM A 102 for 4 in 15.4 overs Sampath Bank ‘A’ beat John Keells ‘A’ by (Sachitra Serasinghe 31, Rashan Peiris 37 runs. 27 n.o., Thisara Perera 25, Madhava Scores: Sampath Bank ‘A’ sent Perera 2/40) into bat 209 for 9 in 50 overs (S.