Aravinda rates Eden knock tougher

Mid Day catches up with Aravinda, now Sri Lanka's chief selector

Aravinda rates Eden knock tougher

Mid Day catches up with Aravinda, now Sri Lanka's chief selector

As an Indian fan, you wouldn't know how to take it -- as an honour or a rubbing of salt in the wounds.
The fact is, Aravinda de Silva considers his blistering half-century against India in the 1996 World Cup semi-final at Eden Gardens closer to his heart than his match-winning century in the final.

Aravinda de Silva (left) with Muttiah Muralitharan at the Wankhede
Stadium on Thursday. Pic/Atul Kamble

"The final win in Lahore (over Australia) was obviously special, but getting past India at Eden Gardens was one of the toughest things I had to do in my career," the former Sri Lankan batsman told MiD DAY.

Aravinda is now Sri Lanka's chief selector and is in Mumbai with his team which takes on India in the World Cup final today. "Anil (Kumble), Javagal (Srinath) and Co had their tails up when we were three down in no time. I realised that it was about putting the bad balls away, about counter-attacking. There was no point in holding back, because the Indians would have been all over us if I hadn't played my shots."

Yes, indeed Sri Lanka were reeling at 35-3 when Aravinda counter-attacked a la Vivian Richards. He struck 14 glorious boundaries in his knock of 66 from 47 balls, leaving India with wounds that refused to heal, on that forgettable evening in Kolkata. "I was disappointed not to carry on, but luckily we had a lot of depth in batting. We had someone like Hashan (Tillakaratne) batting at No 7," said Aravinda.

"Looking back, we were destined to win that World Cup. We preferred chasing, so batting first was something new. In the end 250-plus proved to be good enough." For a nation that played its first Test in 1981, Aravinda was considered as gold standard at the international arena.

During the 1985 tour of Pakistan, on his 20th birthday, he whipped Imran Khan for a towering six on the leg side to reach his maiden Test century. A year later, during the 1986 tour of India, his teammates coined the name Mad Max for his approach towards batting, and manner in which he got out after a blazing start.

"I always believed in getting on top of bowlers. With age, I cut down on my strokes, but when the situation demanded, I used to love to dominate," said the 45-year-old. "There are many modern day batsmen that give me pleasure, Virender Sehwag is right up there," added the right-handed batsman who scored 6361 runs in Tests and 9284 in ODIs.

So, is the quality of batting on the decline? Aravinda laughed and said: "I wouldn't say on the decline, but definitely it has evolved. Nobody would have batted like Tillakaratne Dilshan or Eoin Morgan 15-20 years back.
"Batting on sub-continent pitches is an art. You had to use your bottom hand to good effect, judge the length of the ball quickly, and be open to stepping out of the crease.

"Pakistan and India produced some great players of spin in the 1980s, and we also started producing top-class batsmen. "I would say someone like Mahela (Jayawardene) is the most pleasurable to watch in the Sri Lankan side today. He makes batting look easy."

Like every great cricketer, Aravinda had his lows, like when he dropped from the national team. Looking back, he said he took it on the chin. "It was an interesting phase of my life. There were problematic people at the helm, but I don't regret anything. I had seen the highest of highs and lowest of lows, I enjoyed every bit of the experience," he said.

The other low point of his career was when his name figured in the match-fixing scandal. "There were a few people doubting me, but I was true to myself, and came out clean. Those who mattered knew the truth, nothing else mattered. I told my story to the enquiry committee," he said.