As such, the 36-year-old, (d.o.b. 30/6/69) Sri Lanka’s
most capped player, to date, with 100 Tests and 346 One-Day appearances,
was not part of the team which suffered a 6-1 hiding by hosts
India in November.
It is the first time in a decade that Jayasuriya has been axed,
since cementing his place in the outfit in 1995/96.
In an illustrious One-Day International career spanning 15 years,
Jayasuriya made over 10,000 runs -- one of only four players (all
Asians) to have achieved this feat.
And in the Test match arena, he has been prolific as well, garnering
6,580 runs (at time of writing) -- a record for a Sri Lankan batsman
-- 1982 - 2006.
Jayasuriya is Asia’s highest individual scorer for a Test
match innings (340), made against India at RPSK Colombo in 1997/98.
He also boasts two other giant scores -- 213 against England at
The Oval in 1998, and a recent master-class 253 vs Pakistan at
Faisalabad in 2004/05.
At One-Day International level, he holds the Sri Lankan record
of 18 centuries -- with a highest of 180 against India in Sharjah
(2000/01).
He has also snared 267 wickets with his off-spin bowling.
When in-form and on the go, he could be and is one of the world’s
most uncomprising strikers of a cricket ball.
He is a devastating left-hander.
Short of stature, but powerfully built with a blacksmith’s
forearms, “The Slayer” Sanath’s career profile/graph
would indicate one of the game’s best attacking batsman
of his genre.
Cutting, pulling and driving with awesome force, Jayasuriya’s
brutal bat-wielding was always at odds with his shy, gentle nature.
At 36 (same age as Brian Lara), he has shown signs of being in
the twilight of his grand career.
However true that may be, though, this cricket profiler would
always remember Sanath as a powerhouse batsman, who assisted greatly
in putting Sri Lanka on the world map.
Numerous footage of him shows an audacious shot-maker with bludgeoning
power, who executed boxer-like vicious upper-cuts off the world’s
best pace-men during his international career, which at the time
of writing had fetched 16,787 runs.
Jayasuriya played his strokes so boldly that they often seemed
almost incongruous.
Short backlift, this very dark-skinned, chunky, ample-shouldered
south-paw, proved a thorn in the flesh of almost all opponents
at international level.
Decent, well-mannered, highly religious and respectful towards
other faiths sum up the character of the man.
It would be a fitting finale to a grand cricket career if he were
to have one last tour of the battlefield in the near future, rather
than slip into retirement quietly and soberly.
All that is in the future and conjecture only!
After all, he has already written his piece of history.
But I am certain he’ll be back!
|
