Patience is an important aspect in cricket. Not just with those who engage in the fascinating game of ours but even for those who manage it, this virtue is paramount.
Administrators and captains over the years have been prudent enough to show patience with the talents that had been identified and results have been stunning. Sanath Jayasuriya played 40 ODIs before scoring his maiden half-century. The voices that were calling for his axing were silenced assuring that this is an investment worth taking and it proved to be a gold-mine eventually. Many are the bowlers who suffered at his hand, some of whose careers he ended. Manoj Prabhakar and Philp De Freitas are cases in point. His opening partner Marvan Atapattu had similar beginnings. Despite five ducks in his first six innings, those responsible counted on him and he went onto score more runs in Test cricket (5502) than his mentor Arjuna Ranatunga – 5105.
Sri Lanka seem to be following the same method when it comes to Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella. Not a single day passes by without Mendis being made the butt end of a joke in social media. Harmless jokes gradually spread into the main stream media as well as even seasoned journalists call for his blood.
Thankfully all Head Coaches we have had in recent times along with captains have insisted on not giving Mendis the cold shoulder. The incumbents – Dimuth Karunaratne and Mickey Arthur seem to be sticking out their necks to have him in the side and their efforts need to be commended.
Although Arthur is not part of the selection panel, he is believed to have asked for the inclusion of Mendis for the recent tour of India. He was going to be overlooked for the three match T-20 series but was picked on the insistence of Head Coach.
Reasoning out his preference, the man who has already had coaching stints with South Africa, Australia and Pakistan had pointed out that Mendis will only be a part of the touring squad and will not play any games in India. This may sound weird but Arthur’s reasoning was sound as he and Batting Coach Andy Flower wanted to work with Mendis on a few technical areas while in India rather than leaving him high and dry in Colombo.
Arthur is known as a task master, a no-nonsense style coach who demands high standards in fitness. Mendis is not the only player who has lost weight since the new coach came in. The match saving hundred in Harare from him was very much the need of the hour for the team in the second Test while he had posted 80 in the first Test.
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All coaches were not so lucky as Arthur. Nic Pothas fought a losing battle in November 2017 ahead of the tour of India. The selectors by then had lost patience and wanted Mendis to go back to domestic cricket. However, a tour of India, where Sri Lanka played nine international games, is a huge learning curve for any young player and unfortunately he missed out.
The point that we have got to remember here is that our system has not produced talents in abundance where there are young players filled with immense talent. So those like Mendis who has already proved himself at the international arena needs to be persevered with. Lucky were those who witnessed his sublime 176 at Pallekele in 2016 against Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon. Patience o we need further proof that here is a player who will not just stop with a hundred but would go onto make much more. This was at a time when he was only 21. Two years later, an unbeaten 141 followed in Wellington. The opposition attack comprising Boult, Wagner and Southee.
Mendis of course didn’t help his case following his outburst after his match winning effort in Port Elizabeth last year. But he will learn. The youthful exuberance at most times needs to be tolerated. As Oscar Wilde once said, ‘Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.’
The same recipe needs to be followed with Niroshan Dickwella. Aged 26, after 37 Tests he is yet to score a hundred. His South African counterpart Quinton De Kock is on a different league. Aged 27, after 47 Tests, De Kock has already scored five hundreds. Importantly, the Proteas are fast tracking him to take over from Francois Du Plessis. Ideally, Dickwella should be understudy to Karunaratne. But he is in a battle to save his place. More often, Dickwella has got himself out rather than bowlers claiming his wicket. Some people live by the sword and die by the sword. As for Dickwella, he lives by the sweep and dies by the sweep.
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Like Mendis, Dickwella is a talent too precious. You don’t find many batsmen who have the guts to scoop Kagiso Rabada despite the third man fielder being stationed. This was at Centurion, the very next ball after Rabada had clocked 151kmph.
Those who are critical of Dickwella’s approach to batting forget that his wicketkeeping is without blemish. He is certainly the best stumper in the country and you tend to get the feeling that it’s just a matter of time before he fires on all cylinders when it comes to batting.
