Issue never to be repeated

What happened to Atapattu should not happen to any senior cricketer in the future. At the same time the authorities also must moot even an unwritten policy towards the seniors and how to long are they going hold on to their positions. A mixture of youth and experience is a must for any team. But, you must be very professional and tactful when you put that into action.

In many disciplines of outdoor sports, Sri Lankans could be pitted right in the top slots when one takes talent into consideration. Being a very tiny island nation, with a not so large population and who are not blessed with the best of facilities, Sri Lanka has come up with many feats which the larger nations with better facilities still only dreams of achieving some day.

In cricket Sri Lanka has won the World Cup. They are responsible for the highest Test total made in the history of cricket. They have produced a ‘bronze’ medalist in short distance women’s running at the Olympics—the list goes on. This goes to say that the Lankans do possess a lot a natural rhythm and talent in them which makes them a special breed of people who could churn out, Muralitharans, Susanthikas, Lasithmalingas and Jayasuriyas on a regular basis.

Over the years Sri Lanka has done well especially in the game of cricket, and even prior to gaining full Test status they played a brand of cricket, which was not second to many who even played the game at the highest level. However once gaining the ascendancy in 1982, the Lankan cricket shrouded by an ongoing ethnic strife in the country battled against many odds, but, became the nation that took the shortest cut to the pinnacle, when it won the Cricket World Cup in 1996, in just fourteen years in the big time game.

In the mid 90’s Sri Lanka cricket had their own stalwarts in skipper Arjuna Ranatunge, his deputy Aravinda de Silva, Asanka Gurusinghe, Roshan Mahanama and Hashan Tillekeratne while there were also the up and coming lot in Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Marvan Atapattu. Of the younger lot Jayasuriya, Muralitharan and Vaas played a prominent role, but, according to the then skipper Ranatunge, Atapattu, was one of the last to be drafted into the1996, squad, but, was kept in readiness had there been an injury to a very top performer.

However with a few retirements in the post World Cup winning era, Atapattu, eased into a top slot with quite a lot of ease. From that point onwards, these four cricketers formed the nucleus of the Sri Lanka team, with Marvan and Jayasuriya providing the batting strength while Murali and Vaas provided the bowling support. Gradually the exploits of this foursome took Sri Lankan cricket from the surprise package that it was 1996, to a very good Test/ODI outfit which always hovered round the mid-way mark, in the top slot reckonings.

Meanwhile in the post 96 era the captaincy also changed hands from Ranatunge to Jayasuriya to Tillekeratne to Atapattu. This was also the era where the post World Cup cricketers also started reserving their slots. First, Russel Arnold came but, never managed to command his permanent place, then came multitalented flashy Mahela Jayawardena who promised a lot but, his own impetuosity stunted his flourish, but nevertheless his talent was never in question. In this same era Kumar Sangakkara came in as a batsman who also could keep and once he was given the chance made his talents work for him and never looked back till he became the backbone of the Lankan batting.

By this time the time machine had taken the turn into the next millennium and Sri Lanka had gone through two more world cups – one disastrous and another very mediocre.

In the same vein with the advent of the new millennium the four Sri Lankan stalwarts also had expanded their aura in world cricket. Murali had left the rest and taken off on to a epoch making race along with the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne, which is now clear as to who would end up sitting at the top of the world. Vaas had become the most respected left arm swing bowler that the East produced since the legendary Pakistani bowler Wasim Akram. Jayasuriya had instilled so much fear into bowlers with his brand of stroke play in spite of his patchy consistency that he became a fear factor especially in the shorter version of the game, while Atapattu had shown the world as to how you could convert ordinary innings into memorable ones. In short these four cricketers had become four of the much respected most senior citizens in the cricketing world.

At this time a bit of tinkering in the format of Sri Lanka cricket began to send alarm bells around the local scene. Mahela Jayawardena was appointed vice captain and then dumped because of his form, Chaminda Vaas being named vice captain and following back biting within the team which led to his withdrawal from that position and the sudden forced retirement of Sanath Jayasuriya and his redraft proved that all was not well within the ranks. Suddenly it looked that the cricketers wanted to be there in the reckoning at all times as right up there was the place that brought them all the plums that they sought for. So the result – as a team all players kept on performing at their peak as individuals, but, behind the curtain there were many a dagger drawn.

Ironically at this same time the regular skipper Marvan Atapattu aggravated his back injury and young Mahela Jayawardena was handed over the mantle which the latter took up with glee. Then suddenly as stand in captain Jayawardena turned tables on England on their own soil as captain after Jayasuriya who forced his way back into the side and Muttiah Muralitharan led the way to a 5-0 memorable white-wash in the ODI series after the Test series had tied at one-all. Then after a few good series Mahela began to establish himself and the World Cup too was handed over to him in spite of Atapattu recovering from his injury.
Sri Lanka did very well in the World Cup, but, what happened inside the dressing room was another episode from what we hear. Atapattu was sidelined during the entire tour, and so he was kept for the off shore series against Pakistan, which the locals failed to impress.

Then as expected Atapattu was recalled for the Test series against Bangladesh, but, the former now in England has decided to give it a skip. Now the selectors say that Atapattu pulling out is the baby of the cricket administration and if he is not available they would name someone else in his place. At the same time the President of the Interim Committee Jayantha Dharmadasa has said that they would have to look into the issue closely and at the same time not forget the contribution made by Atapattu to Sri Lanka cricket.

However the contention is that some day even the biggest champion has to say good bye to the very stage that brought him so many ovations. But, in this case has Sri Lanka taken the right steps in a professional manner while dealing with the senior players? Why should we stoop down to such levels as what the cricketers may well know of what happened?

Even Australia sent the message across to Steve Waugh when he was the best captain in the world and went on with their work in a professional manner. High time that we too think that we are a professional outfit and act accordingly. Cricket must not become any individuals personal property or hunting tool.