No, we are not talking of that stumping of Darren Lehmann by Romesh Kaluwitharana here. There, Kalu is literally hiding the ball and the moment Lehmann lifts his back foot in a bid to get a single, hoping the ball had gone towards find leg, Kalu whips the bails off.
Ravi Shastri on commentary can’t help himself but laugh out loud. We are not even talking of Kumar Sangakkara’s stumping of Jimmy Mahar at the Gabba off Murali. But this is on B.C. Lara st. Sangakkara b Vaas.
Yes, you read it right – Stumped Sangakkara bowled Vaas. It is so unusual for a seamer to get a stumping to his name. It could happen perhaps with lesser mortals but to think that Brian Lara would be dismissed in such fashion is over the top. This was frequently spoken about as it happened during a game of the ICC Cricket World Cup with both teams trying desperately to book a semi-final berth. Then this turned out to be Lara’s last game against Sri Lanka as well as he retired after the World Cup.
>>Video – ‘Everyone laughed when I said I want to play for Sri Lanka’ – Kumar Sangakkara<
Sri Lanka were in Guyana and Tom Moody attended the pre-match media briefing. Moody was bemused that most questions centered on Lara and asked us whether we had no other questions than Brian Lara. Well, you knew that if Sri Lanka had to overcome West Indies, Brian Lara was the key. He had done it time and again against all opponents and particularly versus Sri Lanka, who were his bunny.
The numbers are simply astonishing. Brian Lara averaged 87 in Tests and 48 in ODIs against Sri Lanka whereas his career average was 52 in Tests and 40 in ODIs. So, he was the man. Players and coaches knew it too, but they didn’t discuss it in public, often telling the press that they are not bothered about one particular individual but there are couple of dangerous players in the opposition camp.
This was such an anti-climax. Lara walked in at 40 for two. He was on two and had faced three deliveries when Vaas came in for a new over. Suddenly Sanga stood up to the stumps. Now, Vaas wasn’t the quickest at this stage of his career but still, this was only the eighth over of the innings and the ball was relatively new. You would assume that no matter how good a batsman is, he is susceptible when the ball is still new and moving the ball in the air was Vaas’ forte. But Sanga had the guts to come up to the stumps. Lara attempted a drive on the off-side, didn’t connect and Sanga in a flash dislodged the bails and appealed. There wasn’t much enthusiasm from the rest of the players, not even from the bowler.
But television replays gave us that irrefutable evidence. Lara had dragged his back foot out of the crease and the foot was in the air when the stumping was done. He was given out, much to the joy of the Sri Lankans. There was no last hurrah for the Prince of Trinidad as he trudges back to the pavilion. Sri Lanka were in cruise control from thereon and completed a comprehensive win.
>>The unspoken Sangakkara record<<
We mostly discuss Sanga’s batting prowess and his wicket keeping hardly gets the praise that it richly deserves. Mind you, his 482 dismissals in ODI cricket is a World Record. You can safely say that that record will remain intact for at least another ten years given his closest rival Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh has only got 223 dismissals.
Kudos to the selectors for making the right call on Sanga and wicket keeping early in his career. When Lalith Kaluperuma’s panel took the wicket keeping gloves off Sanga in Test match cricket, it wasn’t the most popular decision at that time. Sanga didn’t like the idea either. But in the end, it was a win-win situation for the team. Look at the stats. When Sanga kept wickets, he averaged 40 with the bat in Tests. As a specialist batsman he averaged 66 and hence the stunning career average off 57. The move also made sure that the extra ordinary talent of Prasanna Jayawardene didn’t go to waste. The other Jayawardene is probably the best wicketkeeper the country has produced and he was a handy batsman at number seven. Not too often do you see someone who keeps wickets and bats at number seven win the Player of the Series award in England. PJ did it during Sri Lanka’s tour to the UK in 2011.
While stripping Sanga of wicket keeping duties in Tests, the selectors were spot on to let him continue to keep wickets in white ball cricket. He was such a sloppy keeper when he started. Hours of hard work he put in with Shane Duff stood him in good stead and hence those stunning numbers. Bit of bravado helped too. Who else would come up to the stumps when a seamer was bowling to Brian Lara of all people?
