A partnership with few parallels

Wednesday, 9 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sunday signifies the first step in the winding down of the careers of Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara – two modern greats

Wisdenindia.com: If they were a law firm, or chartered accountants, they would be called Jayawardena, Sangakkara and Associates. But, because it is merely a cricket team, it’s called Sri Lanka. To say this is not to disrespect the other members who walk alongside Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, but rather uplift a duo to their rightful place in Sri Lanka’s cricket pantheon. An island nation like none other, Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans love their cricket, but they don’t do hype. There is as much passion for the game in the fishing villages of Matara as there is in the posh by-lanes of Colombo 4. A Sangakkara or Jayawardena is instantly recognised, but if one of them were buying groceries at the local Keels, they would be greeted with a smile and a wave, but not mobbed. On Kandy’s streets, Angelo Mathews will smile at you from a thousand Milo hoardings, telling you how good chocolate milk is for you, and cricketers do well for themselves, but they aren’t all the dollar millionaires their compatriots from neighbouring India are. When Lasith Malinga goes home to Rathgama in Galle District, he still joins pick-up games on the beach, and jumps in the lake where hours of swimming built those strongman shoulders. Even Sri Lanka’s most gregarious supporter, the inimitable Percy, a fixture at games his team plays home and away, has none of the fanaticism of his colleagues from other countries. Percy will not resort to the full body paint favoured by India’s Sudhir Gautam if you assured him a lifetime supply of Mendis Special and he certainly won’t be asking God for help to break a partnership as Pakistan’s Chacha Cricket frequently does. In Sri Lanka, to Sri Lankans, cricket is a significant part of life, but it is not life itself. And this is why there will be much cheerful doffing of hats, a guard of honour and the warmest of hugs, but no melodrama when Jayawardena and Sangakkara play their final Twenty20 International, fittingly a tournament final, in Mirpur on Sunday (April 5). The fortunes of these two cricketers have been so intertwined with each other, and jointly with the destiny of Sri Lanka cricket, since 2000, that it seems silly to try and contemplate life after. With the bat in hand, Jayawardena is so beautiful, his strokes born of a purity that even Twenty20 cricket’s brash charge has left untouched, that bowlers occasionally stand gaping in awe after they have been dismissed to the boundary. Sangakkara is no less effective, and certainly has proved himself far more than his friend in varying conditions, but his batting bears more resemblance to a street fight than the rapier dance that Jayawardena’s can be. Off the field, the Jayawardena-Sangakkara combine has had bigger battles than anything they faced on the field. The two had a vision for cricket in Sri Lanka, one that Sri Lanka Cricket did not always agree with. At different times they have had to negotiate, plead, insist, argue, cajole, even scheme without malice, to get things done. To use a cringe-worthy word that is so popular with the young of today, the Jayawardena-Sangakkara bromance is one with few parallels in cricket. And Sunday is important for it signifies the first step in the winding down of the careers of two modern greats. Malinga, who felt his way into cricket under the leadership of Jayawardena and Sangakkara, wanted nothing more than to make their exit a special one. “We all know that they are not just great Sri Lankan cricketers, but great cricketers,” said Malinga. “We all want to do our best for these two. It’s a special day tomorrow and we have to do something special.” Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has always shown utmost respect for his peers, naturally did not wish that the two went out on a high. “Well, I don’t have anything personal against them …” began Dhoni. “They have served Sri Lankan cricket for a long time through all the formats. Whether it’s Tests, ODIs or T20 ... Sri Lanka will miss their presence in the dressing room. Between them, they have in excess of 650 ODI games and a lot of Test matches. They will definitely be missed, but all good things must end at some point. Sri Lanka will have to get over it and get someone else to fill in the space.” Sri Lanka will certainly find two other cricketers to replace Jayawardena and Sangakkara, but the kind of bond that the two shared is not taught in academies or learned in dressing rooms. This one was forged in the cauldron of a life lived together, of experiences shared, common enemies engaged and defeated, of mutual respect and admiration, and, most importantly, a celebration of the other’s success. That is not going to be easy to replicate.

Mahela, Sanga disappointed with SLC

Senior cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena yesterday expressed disappointment with comments made to the media by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board Secretary Nishantha Ranathunga about their retirement from Twenty 20 cricket. Speaking to the media at the Katunayake airport upon their return to Sri Lanka after winning the world Twenty 20 title, Jayawardena said that he and Sangakkara were not consulted before comments were made to the media by the Cricket board official. Ranathunga had accused both Sangakkara and Jayawardena of speaking to the media about their retirement from T20 cricket before informing the board. The comment was made while the team was in Bangladesh and Jayawardena said that he and Sangakkara should have been first asked if they had made such a statement to the media before criticizing them in the media. “It was very disappointing that as a responsible official he went and made a statement like that without asking us first if we had spoken to the media,” Jayawardena said. Sangakkara meanwhile agreed with the comments made by Jayawardena and said that as cricketers their job is to play cricket and focus on the game. He said that their concerns over what was said to the media by the Cricket board official was taken up with national cricket selector Sanath Jayasuriya who was with the team in Bangladesh during the tournament. Sangakkara said that there had always been pressure on some of the team members including from the media but the players have always been able to put aside that pressure and focus on playing good cricket. (Colombo Gazette)

Don’t crucify Yuvraj for T20 final flop, says Tendulkar

REUTERS: Batting great Sachin Tendulkar has come out strongly in support of the beleaguered Yuvraj Singh after the left-hander’s poor performance with the bat during India’s loss to Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 final on Sunday. Yuvraj has been made something of a scapegoat for India’s defeat after he used up 21 deliveries to score 11 runs, which robbed his side of momentum towards the end of their innings. The 32-year-old, who hit England’s Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over in the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the architect of India’s 50-over World Cup win in 2011, looked a pale shadow of himself, even struggling to rotate the strike. “It is the unpredictable nature of the game that makes cricket such an exciting sport,” Tendulkar, who retired from the game, last November, said in a post on his Facebook page. “As cricketers, we always enjoy the applause when we succeed but it is the support and encouragement from fans, during tough times, that we appreciate the most.” Yuvraj was the focal point of all discussions in the cricket-crazy country after the Indian juggernaut in Bangladesh came to a screeching halt on Sunday with a six-wicket hammering by Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. There were even reports in the local media that Yuvraj’s house in Chandigarh was pelted with stones by angry fans. Tendulkar, the most prolific international run-scorer and one of the country’s greatest unifiers, reminded the fans of Yuvraj’s past contributions. “All of us took pride in the heroics of Yuvi when we won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and his outstanding contribution in the ODI World Cup win in 2011 will always be cherished,” he wrote. “Last evening (Sunday), Yuvi had a tough day and he can be criticised. But he should not be crucified nor should he be written off.” Yuvraj, who has not been part of India’s test and 50-over sides in the recent past, made an emotional return to the game in 2012 after a lengthy fight with a rare germ cell cancer in his lungs. The diagnosis came after he endeared the whole nation with his all-round performances in the 2011 World Cup, when he was named the player of the tournament as India triumphed on home soil. He later dedicated the victory to Tendulkar, his mentor. Tendulkar backed Yuvraj to come out even stronger after the latest setback. “I have been an admirer of Yuvi’s indomitable Spirit which has overcome many challenges, both on and off the field,” Tendulkar added. “Knowing Yuvi’s determination and ability to fight adversities, he will emerge stronger, proving his critics wrong, yet again. “Yuvi, one off day cannot undermine your tremendous contribution in many sweet memories over the years. You may be down today but you are far from being out.”