Sports
The Greatest
by Rex Clementine
A video clip from Benson & Hedges tri-nation series in the year 1990 involving two greats of the game Aravinda de Silva and Wasim Akram has gone viral. The short clip indeed is pure gold.
It not only has two of the greatest entertainers of the game in action but you can also hear former Australian captains Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell in commentary. The action takes place at Gabba. Not the concrete jungle that they have at present, but one of the most beautiful grounds in the world one time before its renovation to increase the capacity killed all the beauty.
Sri Lanka’s batting had done well in that game and the top three – Athula Samarasekara, Asanka Gurusinha and Hashan Tillakaratne had put on 191 for three inside 40 overs. With quick runs needed in the last ten overs, Rumesh Ratnayake is promoted as pinch hitter ahead of Aravinda.
Soon Aravinda arrives at the crease too and doesn’t waste much time hitting Wasim over point for a six. Chappell is lost for words. A scenario that often doesn’t happen with a man who is never afraid to mince his words. These were no 60-meter boundaries that we find in modern day business of cricket entertainment. This is proper long boundaries in the good old days. The shot that Aravinda plays is so difficult to execute that it requires obviously lot of skill and a bit of bravado.
The other important aspect is that this is no ordinary bowler. This is the great Wasim Akram in his prime. Both are at their peak age of 24 and what entertainment it was.
Chappell at one point asks when you have the skill of Aravinda why experiment with pinch hitters and all. Aravinda clears the boundary once again going over long-on and Benaud chips in wondering why batters need to play unorthodox shots like the reverse sweep when someone like Aravinda makes a living with proper cricketing shots.
Aravinda may not have the numbers of a Kumar Sangakkara or a Mahela Jayawardene, but he will be loved by Sri Lankan fans for feats like these. Many were the bowlers who were put to the sword by his craftsmanship.
Aravinda was inducted to the ICC Hall of Fame in Bombay last year, an event we missed to cover. The reason being this newspaper had opted to cover the World Cup semi-final in Calcutta between South Africa and Australia. The dates of the two events were clashing.
Ian Bishop, the former West Indian fast bowler was in Calcutta as well. We asked him for a comment on Aravinda. The tall quick summed it up in one sentence. “Who Ari, he finished my career mann.’
People also wonder what Aravinda would have gone on to achieve had he got his fair share of opportunities like the modern-day greats. Mind you during his best years from the age of 22 to 27 there was no cricket at all at home as no cricket team toured Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1992 due to the war.
When Sir Garry Sobers was asked who would break his World Record 365, most runs in a Test innings, he picked four names – Mark Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Aravinda de Silva. Imagine had Aravinda got the same opportunities as the other three.
Still, despite all those obstacles, he could have gone on to become the first batter to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket but he ran into problems with the selectors after the 1999 World Cup. He was given the cold shoulder for three years.
A wise man called Mr. Michael Tissera was instrumental in recalling Aravinda to the side in 2002 in his capacity as Chairman of Selectors. What happened in South Africa during the 2003 World Cup is history.
There’s little doubt that Aravinda is the greatest batsman produced by the nation. He was a freak. Only freaks like him could grip the bat one way in the first innings and change it entirely in the second essay. Many are the poor youngsters who wanted to copy Aravinda’s batting stance but soon would get into trouble because Aravinda had changed the stance for the next series. Only he could have experimented with such serious stuff in cricket and succeeded.
Lionel Messi has won it all in football but another Argentinian Diego Maradona will live in our memories forever for he left an indelible mark in people whom he met. Michael Schumacher may be the best racing driver that the world has ever seen, but Ayrton Senna’s flare and flamboyance are far more cherished. LeBron James may be the highest paid sportsman in the world but Michael Jordan is still adored because he turned an unfancied team into one that won six NBA titles.
Similarly, Aravinda made a massive impact wherever he went; both on and off the field. He was a sensation when he represented Kent in County Cricket in 1995. He helped Kent end a 17-year streak without a trophy and with a bit more help from his mates could have won the one-day double as Kent lost the Benson & Hedges final to Lancashire at Lord’s where he made a hundred. He also produced 1600 runs in First Class cricket that season.
England great Colin Cowdrey’s son Graham Cowdrey was part of that Kent side and he wrote this about Aravinda. “I can not believe any player, anywhere, has been so popular. When Aravinda packed his bags, he hugged each of us and I have never known a professional sports team so close to tears.”
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
