Running battle within Team Lanka

The ‘running battle’ was an alarmist exaggeration of the division by age that happens before those ‘30-plus vs under-30’ post-nets fun games. Jayawardene’s mention of the domination of the golden oldies was a mere banter to challenge the youngsters to keep up with the illustrious old hands in the team.

And what Jayawardene means by ‘dirty work’ is the thankless job Dilshan does for the team by batting at No 6, bowling at the death and fielding in the circle. “He gets those vital 30-40 runs for you by taking a lot of risks, bowls those crucial 5-6 overs and probably picks up 1-2 wickets. Picks up a half-chance or manages a run out. Keeps the momentum going by giving us all that energy out there,” he says, sketching the pen portrait of his Man Friday. Running out of words he merely adds: “He has been brilliant for us”.

Since the game against Australia is just a day away and Jayawardene mentions ‘run outs’, one walks over to Dilshan, who about a year back had a field day at Adelaide in a tri-series final. His athleticism, alacrity and aim found Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke short of crease as Lanka recorded a famous win.

Dilshan remembers that day but, instead of talking about it, he prefers to tell you how he has taken fielding to a new level with the help of assistant coach Trevor Penny.

“A year ago we had set the target to be the best fielding side at the World Cup. Everybody did some extra work with the coaches. Techniques were changed and fresh fitness targets set. We need energy to run around for 50 overs, so it was very important,” he says.

Explaining the hard work that goes behind hanging on to a crisp drive or hitting the stumps at the right time, he says: “I do a lot of running around and we have 10 to 15 minutes of exhaustive drills. We train with match situations in mind and that has helped me to take that one step up,” he says.

Probably the most articulate of present day cricketers, Kumara Sangakkara best explains this phenomenon of Lanka taking the collective step forward. “We were all asked to step out of our comfort zone and, most importantly, we were willing to do so,” he says.

That’s something ‘the find of the World Cup’ Dilhara Fernando would agree with. Till very recently, Fernando used to get jelly-legged while bowling the slog overs but the other day at Antigua, he clean bowled Ravi Bopara on the last ball of the match to deny England a thrilling win. Jayawardene explains, “We have asked everyone to push themselves. Dilhara wasn’t in the starting eleven mainly because he hadn’t come to his normal standards. When he was ready we gave him the opportunity. If someone does the hard work to claim a place, we have to include him. Dilhara did so, he got the break, and he hasn’t looked back,” he says.

But if ‘guaranteed reward for hard work’ is one motto that Jayawardene talks about for his team’s amazing run at this World Cup, ‘expecting the unexpected’ is the other.

“Everyone has to be prepared, everyone knows their roles. We have told everyone not to play a normal game. I might throw the ball to anybody anytime to get the job done,” he says.

That’s the reason one finds Dilshan bowling during the slog overs against New Zealand or suddenly young Farveez Maharoof replacing Dilhara, whose first two overs had cost him just three runs.

Like any self-respecting brilliant fielder and occasional bowler, Dilshan likes to be seen as a batsman. He has played enough of those instrumental knocks that change the score from challenging to winning or the SOS kind of efforts for his team. Ask Dilshan about the pressures of batting at No 6 and one of the two bats that he is holding drops. It could be either his tired hands succumbing to the load or a stage actor-like dramatic act of disbelief but it certainly didn’t seem like a case of nervous sweaty palms.

It never is the case, as Dilshan explains, “Whenever I go out to bat, I forget all the things. I concentrate on my strengths. If they have bowled in my zone, I will be 100 per cent positive. I don’t hang around. I am not looking at the scoreboard. It could be 40/4 or 50/4, I just play my way and don’t change anything,” he says.

It’s the combination of such motivated youngsters and wily veterans that gives Jayawardene the hope. Dilshan talks about watching the likes of Vaas, Marvan Atapattu and Muralitharan on television when they won the World Cup in 1996. “Today I share the dressing room with them and listening to them is an education,” he says. That’s something Jayawardene too has spoken about when he said how the Class of ‘96 is often asked to speak about their moment of glory during the team meeting of the ‘07 campaign.

In case the Lankans manage a coup this time, the likes of Dilshan and Dilhara too will have stories to tell and the cordial running battle in the cohesive unit will go on.

Malinga kept under wraps?

st george’s: The one question everybody was asking on the eve of the Sri Lanka vs Australia game was: Will Lasith Malinga play? Though the Sri Lankan team management hasn’t taken a decision on it yet, there is high probability that he will sit out.

But Lankan skipper Jayawardene hinted at an interesting reason for Malinga missing the game. The swollen ankle was almost healed as he bowled at nets, but the Lankans are planning to keep the unconventional bowler with the sling-shot action under wraps. Since the Aussies have never faced Malinga and the two teams are expected to play each other either in the semi-final or the final, Jayawardene suggested that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to unleash the surprise weapon at the most opportune time. When he was asked about this being a possible plan he said: “That’s one way of looking at it. There is a big possibility that we can look at it that way,” was his cryptic answer. SD