Lahiru Kumara: all brawn and no brains

by Rex Clementine

This Lanka Premier League (LPL) has produced some thrilling contests and probably the best of them all was the clash between Colombo Stars and Kandy Warriors with Seekkuge Prasanna helping Stars to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat this week.

Some inexplicable fast bowling by Lahiru Kumara did contribute to Warriors getting knocked out of the competition. Kumara got a lot of flak for the manner in which he handled the pressure against South Africa in Sharjah in that World Cup game last month having been called up to deliver the last over.

On the positive side, people thought that Kumara would have learned his lessons. Many fans actually felt for Kumara as holding your nerve against someone like David ‘killer’ Miller is not something easy.

But this week it emerged that Kumara has learned little lessons. That LPL game taught us two lessons.

One, captains should not trust Kumara with the last over. Two, his brain is as thick as a mustard.

With Colombo Stars requiring 16 off the last over, Kandy Warriors skipper Angelo Perera entrusted his most experienced bowler to do the job. But Kumara went about things like a rookie not like someone who has been representing Sri Lanka for five years.

When third man and fine-leg was brought up, it looked that Kumara was going for the wide yorker. But he sent down a bouncer.

Why would you bring up your third man and fine-leg and send a bouncer that too with the square boundary short. Seekkuge Prasanna made most of it by depositing the ball for a six. There were two more sixes in the next two deliveries to seal a stunning run chase with two deliveries to spare and seal the fate of Kandy Warriors.

Kumara was a sensation with Sri Lanka Under-19 where he bowled with raw pace and was one of the stars in the series win in 2016. Everyone knows that he took 11 wickets at Chelmsford in a County game but little is known about what happened behind the scenes. On a wicket assisting quicks, Kumara was spraying it all over and fast bowling coach Ravindra Pushpakumara had to fetch a bottle of water and go towards the boundary to tell him to stick to the basics.

Basically he tends to get carried away and needs a lot of mentoring. Surely, when you have graduated to the senior side you are expected to do a better job.

For some reason cricket gods have given us a lot of fast bowling talents but they have been gifted with only talent and little brain. There was Ravindra Pushpakumara, nicknamed ‘Baby Waqar’ who once attempted a dive in the pool and hurt his head. He did not know the meaning of ‘shallow end’. Then there was Dilhara Fernando who floored Jacques Kallis with a vicious bouncer at Centurion but never rectified his overstepping problems.

Kumara is a precious talent. He needs constant mentoring both on and off the field so that he could go onto achieve his potential. At 24, we are yet to see the best out Kumara. He has produced some terrific spells over the years but consistency is missing. Bit of hard work and smart choices can take him places.