April 13, 2003

One man’s sunset is another man’s dawn. Will Sri Lankan cricket be able to find a ‘Mad Max’ befitting Aravinda de Silva’s stature, or will they have to contend with just anybody?

PERHAPS the end was not what he had hoped for. As Sri Lanka were losing a hopeless battle against Australia in first semifinal of the 2003 World Cup, star batsman Aravinda de Silva was making his final appearance.

Unfortunately for the little man, there was going to be no fairy-tale ending to a long and illustrious career. On that fateful day in March, de Silva was on the crease along with batting partner, Kumar Sangakkara. Desperate for runs, Sangakkara called him for a quick single. But the run was never there and Andy Bichel, on his follow through, ran de Silva out by yards, with a direct hit.

De Silva’s last innings yielded only 11 runs. As he trudged back to the pavilion at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, the anguish on de Silva’s face was visible. For he knew that his journey had come to an end.

For almost 19 years, de Silva served Sri Lanka cricket with distinction and dignity. In this modern age where there is so much cricket around the globe, de Silva was one of the few to hold his head high. He figured in over 400 international matches — 93 Tests and as many as 308 One-day Internationals.

He made his debut on March 31, 1984 against New Zealand in a rain-hit One-day International at Moratuwa, on the outskirts of Colombo. That day he made only eight before Richard Hadlee, that legendary Kiwi pace demon, found a gap between his bat and pad.

But de Silva did leave his mark on debut. He caught Hadlee and Ian Smith to help Sri Lanka dismiss New Zealand 41 runs short of their target.

In those early days, de Silva found himself struggling for a settled place in the Sri Lankan lineup as he was shuttled from No 3 to No 8.

His Test debut in 1984, against England at Lords, was as inauspicious as his One-day onset. And anyway, he was amongst some of Sri Lanka’s finest. Skipper Duleep Mendis scored 111 and 94, Sidath Wettimuny 190, Amal Silva 102 and Arjuna Ranatunga 84.

Aravinda de Silva displayed first real signs of his batting prowess when Sri Lanka toured Pakistan in late 1985. The pocket-sized right-hander helped himself to a maiden Test century at Faisalabad against the bowling attack of none other than the legendary Imran Khan. De Silva hooked and pulled on his way to 122.

De Silva then stole the show with a truly masterly 105 in the final Test at Karachi. The remarkable innings was studded with 16 boundaries. It was de Silva who set up Sri Lanka’s maiden Test win when he made a quick 75 against India just prior to his exploits in Pakistan.

But even then Sri Lanka were the prevalent whipping boys of Test cricket. The matter was seldom helped by the uncertain political situation on the Pearl Island as no country felt safe to tour there.

De Silva, like most of his compatriots, was too soft a batsman in those early years. However, his daring approach earned him the sobriquet of ‘Mad Max’. He used to star frequently but only briefly to his own cost and the team. However, as he gained experience on the world stage, de Silva, born in Colombo on Oct 17, 1965, changed his game to such an extent that the cricketing world began to take notice of this soft-spoken man.

Although lacking in height — he’s just five feet and three- and-a-half inches tall — de Silva’s stature grew taller.

Australia, still celebrating their first Ashes series win since 1982-83, found de Silva a tough opponent in the two Tests towards the end of 1989. He scored his country’s first Test hundred against the Aussies — 167 off 361 balls at Brisbane — followed by knocks of 75 and 72 in the Test at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval.

De Silva’s Australian exploits followed him to New Zealand. At the Wellington Test, he stroked 40 fours while scoring 267 off 380 balls as Sri Lanka obtained a first innings lead of 323. But New Zealand managed to draw the match through the world record third-wicket partnership of 467 between Andrew Jones (186) and Martin Crowe (299). However, the world was taking note of de Silva.

The Sri Lankan’s marketing value took his reputation to new heights when English county Kent offered him a one-year contract to compensate for the loss of Carl Hooper, who was touring England with the 1995 West Indians. At first he struggled, mostly against the bitting cold. But he soon found his footing. He went on to score 1781 runs that season, the only batsman from his county to top 1,000 first-class runs (1781 runs at 59.36).

In a year of disappointments for Kent, de Silva stole the headlines for a memorable innings of 112 off 95 balls in the Benson & Hedges Cup final against Lancashire at Lord’s. Previously, only Graham Gooch and Viv Richards had managed three-figure knocks in finals.

Aravinda De Silva was in top draw now, and his superiors appreciated his effort by making him captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. But the 1991-92 season wasn’t exactly his best. This also included the country’s unsuccessful bid in the 1992 World Cup campaign. The most productive years of his career were between 1995 and 1999. Cricket commentators quoted him in the same league as that of Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh and Brian Lara. It was also during this time that Sri Lanka accomplished their greatest mission: winning the World Cup as one of the three co-hosts in 1996. De Silva played an anchor role in his country’s win. In the semifinal, marred by rowdy behaviour at Kolkata, de Silva blazed his way to 66 with no less than 14 boundaries. And this after both the Sri Lanka openers had departed with only one run on the scoreboard. And then came his finest hour.

At Gaddafi Stadium, in Lahore, Aravinda de Silva muscled his way through the Australian side. After picking up the wickets of Australian captain Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Ian Healy, de Silva calmly guided Sri Lanka to an unforgettable seven-wicket triumph with an undefeated 107 off 124 balls. Sadly, the final also marked the zenith of his success.

As the years wore on, de Silva’s powers began to diminish. He was already considered in some quarters as a liability in the national squad. Controversy too took its toll on this amiable cricketer. In midst of the Hansie Cronje’s match-fixing saga, de Silva and his close friend and longtime Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga were named by Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta of being involved in fixing matches.

Though both the Sri Lankans were exonerated of any wrongdoing, de Silva found himself out of the team. He was absent from the international scene for a while after the home rubber against England in early 2001. It seemed that his career was over but he was given one last chance. Shedding no less than 12 kilos from his bulging physique, de Silva made a final Test tour of England last year. He then decided to hang up his boots from the longer version of the game after smashing a rapid double century against Bangladesh soon after.

De Silva’s one last big innings was 92 against Australia in the Super Six match at Centurion. Two strokes still remain fresh in the memory. De Silva flicked a Brett Lee delivery over the deep square-leg boundary for a six and then mistreated him again with massive strike over long-on for another six.

De Silva finished his one-day career with the third highest tally of runs — 9284 at 34.90 per innings with 11 centuries and 64 fifties — and 106 wickets. He also held 95 catches in the one-dayers. He scored no less than 22 centuries and 43 half- centuries in a glittering Test career that fetched him 6361 runs at an average of 42.91. He also captured 29 wickets with his off-spinners.

Hopefully, we’ll seeing more of de Silva, though in a different version. He has just taken up a new role by becoming a national selector.

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