"Hey Dilly, problem, Prasanna has just got injured. We know it’s tough, but can you keep wickets in this Test. Hey Dilly, by the way, we want to balance the side by playing an all-rounder at six, can you open the batting while keeping wickets as well in this Test. Hey Dilly, now that Sanath is gone, we want solid ten overs from someone in ODIs and can you make sure that you practice your off-spin. Hey Dilly, now we want to groom a young opener for the future, why don’t you bat in the middle order from now onwards. Hey Dilly, all the seniors are quitting. We know our next four series are going to be against England, Pakistan, Australia and South Africa and there’s no Murali while we don’t have the balls to take on dirty Austin who doesn’t want Malinga to play any Test Matches, can you take over the captaincy. Hey Dilly, we know like everyone else you want to play the IPL and we know that we messed it up by giving all players no objection certificates without specific dates. Journalists are gunning for our blood and only you can save us from embarrassment. Can you please come early from IPL to lead the side in two practice games in England? Hey Dillly, ok the tough series are over, can you f*** off now, we have got other options. And by the way, make sure you make some runs in Australia, you are 35 and you could be dropped any moment."
That is the plight of Tillekeratne Dilshan. The man who took over the job that no one wanted and had to work with three Head coaches in a short span of eight months and mind you achieved what the great Arjuna Ranatunga couldn’t, to win a Test Match in South Africa to end Sri Lanka’s 15 successive Tests without a win. He will also consider himself very unlucky for during his tenure there were some all-time lows, like the 82 all out in Cardiff and the 43 all out in Paarl.
Sri Lanka could have won the ODI series in South Africa. They had the Bloemfontein game in their hands, but that one over from Kosala Kulasekara proved to be costly. In the next two games, he returned to form as Sri Lanka chased totals of 300 to win in Kimberley and Jo’Burg.
He was unlucky in Sharjah too, where Sri Lanka had an excellent opportunity to win a Test Match, but the desert experienced rain in some 30 years at that point of the year and Pakistan escaped with a draw to win the series.
After the final ODI in South Africa, Dilshan addressing a media conference came up with some interesting insights. "I have always believed in promoting young players and let them feel comfortable and they are repaying that faith."
Talks of Mahela Jayawardene agreeing to take over the captaincy after the South African series had been there for a while and Dilshan was asked whether he has any intentions of quitting at the same media briefing. "I was appointed captain up to this series and I have no intentions of stepping down. I am very comfortable with captaincy," he said.
But surprisingly, less than 24 hours later he changed his decision. Was he told, ‘either resign or face the consequences?’.
Now on to the choice of Dilshan’s successor; Mahela Jayawardene, doesn’t it all look funny. Along with the announcement of Jayawardene’s elevation to lead the team in Australia, a joke was doing the rounds in cricket circles; that Sri Lanka Cricket was going to replace King Kekille in its emblem instead of the lion for our cricket bigwigs are fans of that bovine king.
One reason for Dilshan’s failure as Sri Lanka’s captain is Jayawardene himself. In the Test series losses to Pakistan, England and South Africa, Jayawardene didn’t make a singe half-century. His self-centeredness was badly exposed when he responded to a suicidal single after tapping the ball back to the bowler at Centurion with the team in dire straits and was run out. He had to wait for a week to get that single to complete 10,000 Test runs.
Then after Sri Lanka conceded a 3-0 deficit in the ODI series, Jayawardene refrained from playing the next two ODIs in what officials called, ‘as precautionary measures’ as the series against Australia was coming up. The thought that there was the risk of the country suffering a 5-0 whitewash never bothered Jayawardene. Playing for the country is about playing with pain at times as Arjuna Ranatunga did once with a broken thumb facing the wrath of Waqar Younis to help Sri Lanka win a Test Match.
Then Lahiru Thirimanne, a 22-year-old young batsman comes into the side in place of Jayawardene and contributes as Sri Lanka chase targets of 300 to win the next two ODIs. Now then, shouldn’t Jayawardene’s place in the side be under question?
So when the first ODI of the tri-nation series gets underway in Australia, where is Jayawardene going to bat? Surely not number four for Dinesh Chandimal has grabbed that position with both hands. Then it will be unfair to replace Thirimanne after his match winning heroics in Jo’burg. But we have an option, sack Dilshan for he is too old and let Jayawardene open the innings.
Jayawardene may have a better record as captain than Dilshan, but why cricket fans will always adore the latter than his more articulate and flashy team-mate is because of putting country before money. Dilshan made a bold statement that playing for the national team should take precedence over the filthy lucre of Indian liquor barons and he was adored by all and sundry as he returned early from IPL to lead the side in England.
The media went after him on more than one occasion. During the recent tour to South Africa, he was grilled by both the touring and South African press for leaving out Thilan Samaraweera, the best player on tour for the ODIs against the Proteas. The criticism grew after the Sri Lankans suffered their heaviest defeat in Paarl, where they were bowled out for 43 runs. Dilshan faced all the criticism boldly and refrained from passing the ball onto the selectors’ court owning up to collective responsibility. Not only did he face all the blame, he also attended every media conference on time instead of sending the coach, vice-captain or the batting coach to face the music. Neither did he threaten to sue media organizations as the criticism grew, nor did he question the patriotism of journalists like one of his contemporaries.
He celebrated his captaincy by hammering a career best 193 at Lord’s and broke Sidath Wettimuny’s record for most runs in an innings by a Sri Lankan at the home of cricket. The record had stood for 27 years, but in the same match his thumb was fractured by a Steve Finn delivery and he has never looked the same player since that injury. He did recently admit that he rushed back to the side from that injury.
It’s not to say that Dilshan was completely out of fault. He gave in to forces outside the team when a call was made to drop Thilan Samaraweera for the tour of UAE. Then after suffering a series defeat against Pakistan, neither did he put his step down and say that the team needed the expertise of Samaraweera in the tough conditions of South Africa. That he was able to become the first captain to win a Test Match in South Africa was due to Samaraweera’s heroics.
The selection of Kosala Kulasekara in the national squad is another one that has baffled many. Dilshan never bothered to play the best all-rounder in the squad; Thisara Perera until the series in South Africa was lost and in the end paid a huge price as Kosala’s last over in Bloemfontein, a game where Sri Lanka were heading for a win, cost them dearly.
There were some stupid moments too that suggested that he didn’t belong there and questioned his integrity. His decision to bowl first at Newlands with the momentum behind the team was insane while his decision to review his caught and bowled dismissal in Cardiff raised questions about his integrity.
But why Dilshan the captain should be celebrated is because he took over a job that no one wanted and more than that, for putting country before money.
by Rex Clementine - The Island Cricket Editor
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