Pavan proves a point, earns plaudits from Joe Root

•  “He’s got a bright future ahead of him. I will be watching out for him” – Root

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka’s new kid on the block, 23-year-old right-hander from CCC Pavan Rathnayake earned plaudits from England’s senior batsman and a legend of the modern game Joe Root for his well-constructed maiden ODI century in the third and final match played at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Rathnayake alone stood tall while the rest of the batting, barring Pathum Nissanka, got starts but failed to convert them into any meaningful score, which resulted in Sri Lanka falling short by 53 runs chasing England’s record-breaking total of 357-3.

Rathnayake played a similar role to what Root did for England, holding up one end and accumulating runs. Whereas Root received good support from Jacob Bethell and his Captain Harry Brook, Rathnayake received none.

“It just needed one or two guys to stick with him and it could have been a very interesting finish,” said Root at the post-match press conference.

Expressing his views on Rathnayake’s batting, Root said: “I thought he played extremely well. He’s got a really good game against spin; he not only has a good knack of rotating the strike but he’s got some really good boundary options too. This is his fourth game. I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him. I will be watching out for him because it was quite special.”

“I trusted the lower order batsmen can also contribute so I managed to drag the game as long as possible,” said Rathnayake, who was the last Sri Lankan wicket to fall with his contribution being 121 off 115 balls (12 fours, 1 six).

Since being selected to the one-day squad, a debatable topic was why Rathnayake was being sent to bat at number 7 when he had the ability to bat high up the order and make worthwhile contributions.

For the third and final ODI, the team management and selectors eventually took a decision to send him at number 4 and the move paid off handsomely with Rathnayake given his rightfully earned position, playing an innings which could have been a match-winning one had the other senior batsmen played their part and supported him.

“I was told at practice that I would be batting at number 4,” said Rathnayake. “At club level also I batted in the same position. I applied the same principles here. I am happy that I made use of the opportunity I got. I was waiting for an opportunity and I am glad I was able to prove it. With this century, I am confident I can do a lot more in the future.”

“As much as possible I tried to rotate the strike as soon as I hit a boundary. Sticking to the basics is what I have been following right throughout my career and I applied it here. I want to win matches for my country, that’s what I like doing most. I have this knack to score hundreds from my younger days and I am still following that trend,” he added.

There’s many more hundreds to come from this young man’s bat provided he retains his number 4 slot rather than being pushed back to number 7 for the next series.

A product of Mahanama College, Colombo, Rathnayake averages 50 in first-class matches, having already notched up 13 hundreds from 58 matches that includes a top score of 240.

When one watches Rathnayake at the crease, he bears semblance to a rather crouched stance.  

“From my younger days, I have been batting with this stance. It makes it easy for me to play against spin. I am always ready to come forward and use my feet against the spinners. It has worked for me. Normally, after the bowler delivers the ball only I make my move to come forward. If he bowls quicker, I go back and play him. I have been following these basics throughout. It has worked out well for me,” he said. “It was a good batting track to bat on. We failed because we lost wickets in close succession.”  

Sri Lanka had a brilliant powerplay but threw it away with soft dismissals—most of them gifted. It was a game which was there to be won, especially the way Rathnayake was batting at the other end.

This has been the trend of Sri Lanka’s batting over the years. They never learn, but keep repeating the same mistakes over again.