Marvan Atapattu has always been a slow and reluctant starter. Authorities have also been slow in recognising his contributions to the game. He was a prolific run scorer for his school Ananda College and club Sinhalese Sports Club and was pushed for Test debut aged 19 during Sri Lanka’s tour of India in 1990.
Much was expected from the highly talented teenager, but he had a tough start managing a pair on debut in Chandigarh. In fact in his first six innings Atapattu had five ducks and one run. But to his credit, he fought his way back and ended with six double hundreds and centuries against all Test playing nations.
When Sanath Jayasuriya stepped down from captaincy in 2003, he was the obvious choice to take over. But in a bizarre move, the selectors split the captaincy and gave him only the ODI captaincy. He was elevated as full time captain a year later in 2004. However, Atapattu was at the job for less than two years. A back injury forced him out of Sri Lanka’s tour of England in 2006 and when he returned to the side later that year, he had lost the captaincy as Mahela Jayawardene had established himself as a strong leader.
A year later, he was picked for the World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 but wasn’t played in a single game. He reacted angrily calling the selectors ‘puppets headed by a joker’.
Early this year, when Graham Ford declined to renew his contract, Atapattu was the obvious choice to take over as the Head Coach. He had been in the set up for four years as the batting coach and had an impressive CV. Yet, the authorities were reluctant and instead opted for someone who was coaching a second XI county team. Paul Farbrace is his name.
After Farbrace ditched the Sri Lankans and joined England a fortnight before Sri Lanka’s tour of England, Atapattu was told to take over the tough assignment. He took up the challenge happily and won the one off T20I and the ODI series. His biggest achievement was helping Sri Lanka to win their maiden Test series on English soil.
He also won the home series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka’s rankings improved under his charge.
But for some strange reason, the Sri Lankans weren’t keen to give him the job on a full time basis. They opted to advertise and preferred a foreign coach. With the World Cup five months away, the authorities didn’t realise that the new coach will need time to settle in whereas Atapattu knew how the system worked. He has also captained more than half of the current squad and understands individuals better than any outsider.
Chaminda Vaas played alongside Atapattu for 14 years. At present, he is Sri Lanka’s bowling coach and welcomed the appointment of his former captain.
“Marvan is the ideal choice and he deserves it,” Vaas told gocricket.com. “Marvan is a person who handles situations well. He doesn’t panic in any situation. He also doesn’t leave anything for chance and gives attention to every minute detail which I believe is a hallmark of a good coach. He gives more than hundred percent and expects hundred percent from all the players and the support staff. I enjoy working with him,” Vaas said.
“His practice sessions are very well planned and all the players are kept highly involved all the time. Players kind of enjoy his training sessions. Another fact that I like very much about Marvan is that the way he motivates people. He has some unique methods to motivate people and he is a good manager of men, which he did so well when he was captain. I am sure we will do well under Marvan,” Vaas went onto add.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s Executive Committee was divided on naming Atapattu as the head coach. After much deliberation, that went on for about a month, unable to find a foreign coach with credentials, the Ex Co unanimously decided to give Atapattu the job. He is the first Sri Lankan full time Head Coach after Roy Dias, who functioned in the role in 1998 and 1999.
Atapattu’s first challenge will be the seven match ODI series against England at home. Sri Lanka will then travel to New Zealand for a Test and ODI series. The World Cup is the biggest challenge of them all.
It was long wait for Atapattu and an insult to someone who has proved himself beyond doubt. Like his batting, Marvan’s coaching is methodical. His team will include a new trainer and a new fielding coach. Fielding is an area that the Sri Lankans are placing a high premium ahead of the World Cup. When he captained Sri Lanka, Atapattu placed lot of stress on good fielding and you can expect the team’s fielding standards to be high.
