This seemed unreal. When India declared on 503-9, bowled Sri Lanka out for 290 and enforced the follow-on with almost five sessions remaining, it was difficult to see how Sri Lanka could get out of the SSC with anything. By the close of the fourth day, six wickets were down and Sri Lanka were only [...]
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By the close of the fourth day, six wickets were down and Sri Lanka were only 16 runs ahead. India had the better attack, the better position and, quite understandably, were beginning to believe that a 2-0 series victory was within reach.
Sri Lanka looked as though they were simply waiting for the end. Then Sonal Dinusha refused to go away.
By the time India had exhausted their options, Dinusha was unbeaten on 133. He had batted through the innings, with the tail around him, to save a Test match that had appeared lost the previous evening.
Gary Kirsten described it afterwards as one of the great saves in Sri Lankan Test cricket while crediting the youngster for the impressive innings to save Sri Lanka from the jaws of a defeat.
What stood out was not only the runs. It was the composure.
“I love the way he plays Test cricket,” said head coach Gary Kirsten.
“He thinks about it, plays to his strengths and he’s a smart cricketer. He understands what the bowlers are trying to do to him and then uses his skill set to negate that.”
Dinusha is playing only his fifth Test, yet there was little in his batting to suggest that he was carrying the pressure of a match that Sri Lanka simply could not afford to lose. He did not appear to be fighting the occasion. He played the ball rather than the situation, and that is often the hardest thing for a young batsman to do.
When India bowled well, he defended. When they erred, he scored. There was no great rush to get the runs that were not there. That was perhaps the most encouraging part of the innings.
Dinusha had already made a hundred and a fifty in the first Test in Galle, although Sri Lanka lost that match by 165 runs. At the SSC he scored 103 in the first innings before returning to the crease with Sri Lanka in serious trouble in the second.
This time he had to bat with the lower order. His partnership with Keshara Nuwantha was the turning point. They added 112 for the seventh wicket and, for close to three hours, made an Indian attack that had been expecting a straightforward finish, work for every wicket.
Nuwantha was eventually dismissed soon after lunch. Dinusha carried on. Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando then gave him enough support to take Sri Lanka to safety.
Dinusha’s figures this year tell an extraordinary story: 43, 12 not out, 92, 28, 100, 84, 103 and 133 not out. That is 595 runs in eight innings at 99.16. The numbers are impressive, so as the circumstances behind them.
Sri Lanka were 59-4 in the first innings at Galle when Dinusha came in and 47-4 in the second innings. At the SSC, they were 122-4 in the first innings and 209-4 when he came in during the second. He has therefore spent much of his short Test career walking into trouble and shown a remarkable willingness to stay there.
There was no frantic search for runs, particularly in the second innings. His defence looked organised against pace and spin and he did not seem troubled by the inevitable change in plans from the Indian bowlers. That is a promising sign.
But Sri Lanka have been down this road before. Kamindu Mendis is a useful reminder of how quickly Test cricket can change. His first 10 Tests produced 1,110 runs at an average of around 74, with five hundreds and four fifties. In his last eight Tests he has managed only 446 runs, with three fifties.
Nishan Madushka is another player who arrived with considerable promise and strong domestic numbers, made an early impression and then found international cricket rather less forgiving.
That is why Dinusha should be allowed to develop without being burdened by comparisons with everyone who has gone before him. Sri Lanka have a tendency to search for the next big thing whenever a young player makes a spectacular start. It would be better to simply allow Dinusha to play.
He will have poor games. He will make mistakes. Bowlers will eventually work out ways of testing him. That is part of becoming a Test batsman.
The same applies to Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who has made an equally encouraging start to his international career. Sooriyabandara only came into the side as a concussion sub after Dinesh Chandimal was injured. He began with a golden duck in Galle, but responded with 80 and 93.
There was enough in those innings to suggest that this was not simply a batsman making the most of a rare opportunity. He looked capable of spending time at the crease, which is a fairly good starting point for anyone trying to make a career in Test cricket.
Keshara Nuwantha’s contribution should not be overlooked either. His 46 from 150 balls will not have the statistical appeal of Dinusha’s 133, but it was exactly the sort of innings Sri Lanka needed at that stage of the match.
He understood that runs were not the immediate requirement but time was. And that brings Sri Lanka to the more difficult question.
What happens to the senior players?
There is no argument for throwing experience out simply because three youngsters have performed well in one series. But neither can experience be allowed to become a permanent protection against poor performance.
Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva has been around long enough to know how to build an innings. Chandimal has 16 hundreds and 93 Tests behind him. Dickwella has played enough international cricket to understand the value of occupying the crease when the situation demands it.
Yet too often in this series, it was the younger players who appeared to have the better understanding of what the match required. That should concern Sri Lanka.
There is nothing wrong with playing positively. Modern Test cricket demands it. But there is a point at which positive cricket becomes careless cricket, and Sri Lanka have crossed that line too often.
The most frustrating part is that the players making those mistakes are not inexperienced youngsters. They are men who have played enough international cricket to know better.
The younger players should not repeatedly be asked to repair the damage.
Jayasuriya’s situation is slightly different. His importance to Sri Lanka, particularly in home conditions, is obvious. But his effectiveness outside Galle remains something the selectors will have to consider if Sri Lanka are serious about becoming competitive against the better Test teams.
None of this means that the answer is to replace every senior player with a youngster.
That would be an equally poor decision.
What Sri Lanka need is a harder look at what each player is contributing now, rather than relying too heavily on what he has done in the past.
Dinusha has given them a reason to be encouraged. Sooriyabandara has done the same. Nuwantha has shown that he can play a supporting role when the situation demands it, in addition to his off-spin bowling.
They deserve an opportunity to find out where they can go.
More importantly, they should not have to spend the next few years coming in at five down and six down because the experienced players above them have failed to do their job.
The draw at the SSC will be remembered because Dinusha remained unbeaten on 133.
But there was more to it than one man’s innings. Sri Lanka saw three younger players respond to pressure in very different ways, and all three gave the selectors something worth considering.
The challenge now is not to get carried away with them. It is to give them enough cricket to find out whether this is the beginning of something substantial. It should be done even at the expense of those seniors.
For once, Sri Lanka’s young players are not asking for an opportunity. They may already have earned one.
Print Edition – The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka
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