Is It the End of the Road for Sanath Jayasuriya?
Whatever goes up, must come down, and the career of former Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya is going through the same phenomenon. The master blaster has been around for more than 2 decades, yet still prefers to play cricket, when his former contemporaries are either enjoying a career as commentators or scribes. The most recent axe from the Asia Cup squad might be the last he ever gets, since he isn’t getting any younger!
There has not been a better all-round cricketer in the three formats of the game than Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya, but the master blaster has been dumped from the side once again due to lack of form. Born as Sanath Teran Jayasuriya at Matara in 1969, he will turn 41 this year on June 30, and not many cricketers have made it back to the senior side after being dropped after 40!
If the achievements of Sanath Jayasuriya are to be compiled, they would constitute at least a couple of books. He not only revolutionized batting in the first 15 overs of a one day match, but also transformed batting in Test cricket. It was only after his success in 1996 that other teams decided to use players with hitting ability in the top order, otherwise Virender Sehwag, Shahid Afridi or Adam Gilchrist might never have become what they are famous for.
All was not good for the cricketer initially, as he was made to struggle for a place in the side during his early years. Roshan Mahanama and Athula Samarasekera had made the opening slot their own, and were followed by Asanka Gurusinha, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva. Thus, making a place in the final XI was always difficult for the newcomer. But Jayasuriya didn’t lose hope and improved his bowling and fielding to be selected as a spinning all-rounder, a rarity in those days
He went on to make a name for himself, when in 1993 he started taking wickets as well as scoring in bits and pieces, and became a regular in the side. His aggressive batting style made Dav Whatmore use him as an opener, changing the style of one-day cricket for good. Jayasuriya not only devastated the Australians Down Under but made Indian pacer Manoj Prabhakar reconsider his bowling so much so that he turned to spin during a match, after getting belted by Jayasuriya.
After leading his side to triumph in the cricket World Cup in 1996, where he was declared Man of the tournament, Jayasuriya continued his impressive run of form, blasting his way past multiple records. At one time, he used to hold the record of the fastest fifty (against Pakistan, off 17 balls), fastest 100 (against Pakistan, off 48 balls), and the fastest 150 (against England, off 95 balls) in one-dayers. The emergence of Shahid Afridi made Jayasuriya lose the former record, but he is still the record holder of the latter two.
Jayasuriya was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997, the same year he scored 340 runs in a Test innings against India. During that mammoth innings, he set the then all-time record for any partnership with Roshan Mahanama in Test history, with 576 runs.
He was also named skipper of the Sri Lankan team in 1999, something he managed to do in both Tests and one dayers. His last test in charge was his 38th in 2003, and by that time, his name had become a synonym of destructive batting. He was in excellent form during the World Cup in 2007, where he blasted 2 centuries and guided his side to the final, and has 47 Man of the Match awards in ODIs, a feat only bettered by Sachin Tendulkar who has 61 awards.
Jayasuriya, who by the 1996 World Cup had just one ODI century to his name, now has 28, and is third on the all-time century makers list, with India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Australia’s Ricky Ponting ahead of him with 45 and 29 respectively. But even the two greats can’t compete with Jayasuriya in the bowling department, where he has taken 322 wickets in 444 matches.
He has also been an excellent fielder throughout his career, and although he might never play for his country again, his exploits will remain known to cricket fans and followers forever.
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