Sir Rangana or Deshamanya Herath!

Saturday, 20 August 2016 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

He cannot be knighted because Sri Lanka gave up British titles long time ago. Yet he can be a local dignitary with a National Title. Or he may prefer to remain the simple, unassuming, never-ageing lad from Kurunegala.

Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath is the Man of the Moment. He is the Talk of the Town. He has taken over from the other champion spinner Murali. He continues from where the latter stopped.

“Outstanding bowling from Herath” was how the former Australian spinning wizard Shane Warne hailed Herath in his congratulatory message to Sri Lanka. “Aussies very poor”, he tweeted.

Sri Lanka’s head coach Graham Ford reacted saying that Hearth is “my all-time sporting hero – he’s gone ahead of (Roger) Federar.”

“The Australians again had no answer and as few clues against the left-arm spin of 38-year old Rangana Herath who finished today on one leg, but with a spring in his step and 7-64 in his pocket,” reported ‘Cricket Australia’ man, Andrew Ramsay from the SSC grounds on Wednesday evening.

Under the heading ‘Sri Lanka spin way to clean sweep’, he wrote: “Australia’s humbling at the hands of an unfancied bur irrepressible young Sri Lanka was completed in less than three hours of fragile batting in a manner that was difficult to reconcile but at the same time utterly predictable”.

“A team, whose heart and soul is a 38-year old with grey-flecked hair,” is how ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Fernando paid tribute. “From the brink of despair, Sri Lanka has risen to rapturous exhilaration after whitewashing Australia. And Test cricket is much better for it,” he wrote.

“When they play like they have this series, Sri Lanka are the shock of lime in cricket’s ‘sambol’. They are the cashew in its ‘dodol’, and the ‘murunga’ leaf in ‘odiyal kool’”, he ended.

As Roshan Abeysinghe said at the presentation, the commentators could not find a better Man of the Match or Man of the Series. Herath stood tall with his 13 for 145 in the final Test and 28 wickets in the series, second only to Murali whose tally was 30 in a series (vs Zimbabwe in 2001) for Sri Lanka. Earlier Herath had taken five wickets on 25 occasions in an innings in Tests. This was also the sixth rime he had a match bag of ten wickets.

I recalled the time I was doing a coffee table book for Sampath Bank about five years ago and how we could not met him (he was a Bank employee) for one whole year for a group photograph along with the other Sampath sportsmen and women. He was either overseas with the national team or at practice.

As for Sri Lanka’s record victory, ably-led by Anjelo Mathews, the series win was a superb team effort. There is so much hope now for the future with newcomers showing their talent with both bat and ball.

It’s usual for both fans and some cricket pundits to call for the removal of the captain no sooner a series is lost, as it happened not so long ago after the defeats in England. At least here is a good lesson for them. Have patience!