The Thirimanne dilemma, the burden of talent

Lahiru Thirimanne is a guy we have been hearing about (and arguing about) amply over the past 6 months to a year.  It wasn’t too long ago that he was hailed as the man to take over the Sri Lankan batting mantle, alongside Dinesh Chandimal, in the next 5-10 years. Six years since making his international debut for Sri Lanka, things haven’t really gone to plan.

The Sri Lankan cricketing fraternity seems to be divided in opinion over the case of Thirimanne. Players, Coaches, present selectors (basically the people who really matter) are firmly behind him, backing him 100%. On the other hand the fans, at least a majority of them, feel that it is time for him to go.

Thirimanne has shown sporadic glimpses of brilliance and his cover drive is to die for, but these glimpses have come too few and far between. At his lowest, he has looked downright out of place in the international arena. After 6 years in the international game, he is yet to establish himself as a reliable contributor to the team’s cause and Sri Lanka can ill afford to carry a player based on talent/technique and potential. Truthfully as a cricket fan I think most fans are so passionate about this topic because his talent is plain to see, we KNOW he’s good so when he doesn’t perform well, it is doubly disappointing. After all, the greater the talent, the greater the expectations right?

The most recent events that caused uproar were him being selected for the World T20 Championship and subsequently the tour of England. Both camps have voiced their opinions openly in the recent past and Thirimanne has some pretty big names in his corner, including Sri Lankan cricketing royalty Aravinda De Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and current skipper Angelo Mathews. To be fair, his selection for the tour of England is perhaps more justifiable than his inclusion in the WT20 squad. In both cases Thirimanne’s inclusion was last minute, thereby fueling what was already a healthy fire. In fact many believe that the entire upheaval of the selection committee prior to the WT20 was to ultimately get Thirimanne into the squad. So why the preferential treatment?

Well for one, his talent. Aravinda and Sanga have been harping on his talent for years now and they haven’t changed their tune. Anyone who has watched him over the years would know that not only is he a naturally gifted player but he is also in possession of an even temperament. But…. Nobody is disputing the fact that he is a talented player. The fact remains that he hasn’t PERFORMED to EXPECTATIONS. And truth be told, the backing he is receiving is not really helping much. Just try imagining the amount of pressure on this guy as he walks out to bat. Not only does he need to perform to justify his spot in the team, he also needs to do so to justify the selectors’ faith in him. Every time he steps on to the field with bat in hand, rest assured all eyes are on him. Right now it seems like Thirimanne is really wilting under the pressure. No doubt he also has his mind on how his performances have an impact on those who have backed him. This kind of thing can make or break a cricketer and it really speaks of the burden of being earmarked as a promising player early on in one’s career.

Mahela Jayawardene has a similar story in some respects. Mahela started his International career with a bang and was heralded by many as the next big thing in Sri Lankan cricket, he went through a horrendous patch in 2003(coinciding with the World Cup where he made 21 runs in 7 games), was subsequently dropped, regained his place with some solid performances and a more level-headed approach to the game and went on to become one of the stalwarts of the game. When we think of Mahela, we hardly ever recall the bad times, we remember his 374, we remember his captaincy, we remember his World Cup hundreds.

On the other hand Chamara Silva is a player whose career went in the opposite direction. He showed a lot of promise, earning the admiration of renowned coaches like Tom Moody but a prolonged loss of form and the pressures that came with it proved to be too much for the elegant right hander. There are innumerable stories like his in the cricketing world which goes to show that no matter how talented you are, actually being successful is a different story altogether. Whether this is an issue with how players are managed is a question we will probably never be able to answer conclusively.

Post WT20, the point was made at a press conference with regards to Sri Lanka’s performance, that Thirimanne is the most technically correct batsman in the squad, however one is left to wonder if this is really a factor when 1. the player is lacking form and confidence, 2. the format in question is T20. It is not that technique is not an important factor in the game, but it seems like time and again it is proved that perhaps technique is not THE MOST important factor. Players like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sanath Jayasuriya and, more recently, Steven Smith come to mind. Have they not been immensely successful despite not possessing imperfect and unorthodox techniques?

On the flip side, had the argument of Thirimanne’s superior technique been pointed out as reasoning for including him in the Test squad for England, it would make much more sense as the conditions in England, along with Test cricket itself, demand a certain level of technical correctness and Sri Lanka do really need some experienced batsmen in the lineup right now. It certainly seems like the more reasonable format to expect Thirimanne to perform well in as, although Test cricket is undoubtedly the more challenging format, at least he will not have to worry about his strike rate and will be able to, to some extent, play himself in, taking as much time as he wants without creating too much pressure on himself or the other batsmen.

Injury has ruled him out of the 1st Test against England but it will be interesting to see how he is fitted into the line-up once he is fit; you cannot really see him missing out unless the top 3 really put in some big performances in the 1st game. No real Sri Lanka cricket fan would want to see him fail but it remains to be seen how much longer the administration persists with him if he does not do well during this tour.