Bhanuka Rajapaksa; all talk and no action

by Rex Clementine

Do you think Bhanuka Rajapaksa merits selection in the 50 over format? Well, numbers don’t just match up. He wasn’t covering himself in glory in domestic cricket representing BRC in the last season. But his social media appearance seems to have upset the selectors who eventually caved in to public pressure not only recalling him for the T-20 format but giving him a go in the 50 over format as well.

Public opinion can earn you back what you deserve. Tilan Samaraweera for example. When he was axed from the team in 2011, the selectors were criticized and they were left with Hobson’s choice but to recall Samaraweera for the tour of South Africa.

Once back in the fold, Samaraweera let his bat do the talking. He went onto prove that he belonged there and his axing was in fact unfair by scoring a match winning hundred in Durban as Sri Lanka went onto win a Test match in South Africa for the first time. He didn’t stop there. He scored another one in Cape Town to finish off an excellent tour.

Bhankua Rajapaksa this series has been exposed by high class pace. Kagiso Rabada was too good for him on Saturday. He had collected duck in the first ODI too having faced three balls. So when he came into bat in the second ODI, Rabada bowled a yorker, Bhanuka was late in bringing the bat down and South Africa reviewed for LBW. Bhanuka survived.

Rabada then bowled a full and wide delivery which the batsman drove but couldn’t find the gap. The third ball was a killer. It was a short ball and Bhanuka took the eye off the ball and was looking to protect his face by bringing the bat and glove together in front of his helmet. The ball hit the glove and popped up to the keeper. It was a soft dismissal.

It was a sorry sight. The fault doesn’t lie with Bhanuka. He is a T-20 format player trying to cash in from the moment he walks out to bat. But instead, he’s being played in a format where he doesn’t belong. For some reason those running our cricket for decades have chosen the nation’s finest batters at number three. There was Roy Dias in our formative years, then Asanka Gurusinha in our glory days followed by Kumar Sangakkara. All had unprecedented success at number three. The incumbent in that position is a misfit; a square peg in a round hole.

As for Bhanuka, in his social media interview that went viral, he claimed that he had been victimized not being given a proper run. Here now he’s been given a chance and it is time for him to walk the talk. So far, it’s been all talk and no action.