Tough Tillakaratne

I am a great admirer of strong, uncompromising cricketers. Those attributes are not normally associated with the country of birth of my subject today and that in itself is a tribute to the belief and desire now exuded by that cricketing nation.

Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan is an extraordinary cricketer. If he was any tougher he would rust. He reminds me of a sprightly bull terrier, and we all know that if you rub them up the wrong way they will come out baring teeth, agitated and encompassed in a red rage.

He is never one to stand back and, rest assured, he will be the first to come to the rescue of any teammate should any aggression explode during play. Watching Dilshan one often gets the feeling that he is seconds away from suddenly leaping into action to change the course of a game.

His recent heroics during the first test against New Zealand in Galle were remarkable from a number of angles. Most importantly his pace of scoring in both innings enabled Sri Lanka to turn the screws and play fast forward cricket. That, as skipper Vettori admitted, surprised the visitors and put them on the back foot and in a position that forced them to play catch up cricket. The extra time that Dilshan’s double created was the turning point. Not bad for a bloke who normally wields the willow from the middle order.

Tillakaratne is a great team player. It was just weeks ago that he was asked to don the keeping gloves in the tests against Pakistan so that an injury could be covered and essentially Sri Lanka could select a desired balanced line up. He performed adequately behind the stumps and leapt into action from time to time, executing a brilliant run out or two that clipped Pakistan’s momentum at crucial times. Sadly for him a far from perfectly gloved catch and later a top edge whilst batting sent him to the emergency room twice.

Initially an edge that rattled into his keeping mitts forced further introspection on a digit. It was not until the x-rays were taken on the suspected damaged finger that he realised that another one was in fact broken and battered from the previous day. That still did not stop him from contributing later in that test with the bat and stamping a typical Dilshan cameo on proceedings.

That important innings was also temporarily halted as claret gushed from a gaping gash above his eye as a result of a top edge. Fourteen stitches were eventually required to close the gap but that did not force him back to hospital, he just batted on.

An enforced rest was the result of these set backs whilst the healing process took over. He was expected to immediately slot back into the middle order against New Zealand once fit and adopt his more familiar position. However, just prior to the first test starting, an offer to open the batting to once again enable the desired selection got his juices flowing. He once again stuck up his hand for the team and the rest is history.

One nil to Sri Lanka ….. thanks to the bull terrier.