It’s not a game of make believe, but believing in
View(s):There are people who could make an impression from what they try to portray in life. For instance, the late Henry Jayasena in his stage play Hunuwataye Kathawa, an adaptation of Bertol Bretch’s Caucasian circle, made a huge impact playing the role of the judge Azdak.
After many decades I still vividly remember the scenes and the booming impression that Jayasena made while giving life to the character of Azdak – he made us believe in what he did and the message that he was trying to tell society. I suppose it reads as: “When you are in a mission – whatever the task is, believe in it and try to accomplish it in a manner that you would be remembered as the 
author”.
One can take this equation to any vocation, but, I am trying to connect it with cricket in the greater interest of the game and its forward march in the next few critical years.
These thoughts came to my mind after I had a chat with chief national selector Sanath Jayasuriya at the departure lounge of the Bandaranaike International Airport. We spoke about how Sri Lanka, as a major cricket playing nation, was hoping to cope with the challenges in the next few crucial seasons.
Jayasuriya said: “I believe in our cricket and now we are properly geared to drive towards our next goal and the starting point is this Pakistan series. I think this tour will teach us a lot of lessons.
“Right now the Pakistani side is well marinated after the two rounds of matches they had with South Africa. All these days they have been playing good cricket. Mind you they did beat the No 1 side in the world in a Test match.”
However Jayasuriya did not agree with my concern that the Lankan cricketers were holed up at home without any proper exposure for more than three months. He claimed that the Lankan cricketers had a few good rounds of cricket while playing at home and added, “They played good cricket, I think all our top cricketers – the national and the fringe players were involved in it and this was a good chance for them to measure themselves. The young players could measure themselves as to where they stood with the experienced lot while the top players had the chance of looking through some niggles that they had experienced in the international platform. I think sometimes players do need a break of this nature to recuperate, thereafter they comeback – stronger and wiser.”
Then I asked what he thought of the leadership qualities of Angelo Mathews and how he was faring as captain who has a few grueling challenges at hand that includes a T-20 World Championship, an Asia Cup – both in Bangladesh — and the ultimate 2015 World Cup which would take place on the daunting wickets of Australia and New Zealand.
In international cricket all-rounders have successfully led their respective countries and to glory at that. The two names that automatically come to my mind are India’s Kapil Dev and Pakistan’s Imran Khan. Both these all-rounders led their respective sides to World Cup success. But, what is very special in their achievements are – Kapil Dev took his team to success in England, while Khan’s band of cricketers won the Cricket World Cup in Australia.
Another similarity in these two cricketers is that both were inspirational cricketers who always led from the front. Both were fast bowlers who could more than bat. Like what I said before – whatever the tasks were, they believed in themselves and accomplished their tasks in a manner that people remembered them as the authors of their success.
Going back to the question that I fired at Jayasuriya on the abilities of Mathews as a captain, he said: “I think he is a good captain and he is a cricketer who understands the game. At the moment he is going through on-the-job tutelage under three former national captains in Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara and T.M. Dilshan. He is a fast leaner and he has only played this role for about a year; he has time to mature by the next World Cup.”
I quite agree that on the present platform of Sri Lanka cricket, Mathews is by far the number one contender for this position and he is fortunate that he has the guidance of three legends of the game helping him out. But, is he trying to become the author of his legend?
Let us turn the clock back to 2010, November 3, at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. In the first of the three ODIs between the two countries, Australia had scored a healthy 239 for 8 with Mike Hussey making his customary presence felt with an unbeaten 71.In turn Sri Lanka was 4 for 84 in the 18th over when the new kid in the block Angelo Mathews walked in. He stayed with the tail. Batting with courage at one end, he inspired the rest of the tail. First it was Suraj Randiv, then it was none other Lasith Malinga who put on a 132 run stand for the penultimate wicket and by then Sri Lanka had equaled the unlikely task and when the last in Muralitharan hit a four it was all over.
The most important feature of that win was that Mathews was the author of that story. He held on to one end to be unbeaten on 77.
Now let me delve into the career of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He began as a wicket keeper who could hit the ball beyond the boundary. The Indian hierarchy noticed the sparkle in the budding cricketer. They chose him to lead the Indian team for the inaugural World T-20 championship in South Africa and the rest is history.
But, here the story is how Dhoni authored his character. Right now he bats from No 3 to 6 when the need arises. Even when India loses his contribution is noteworthy. He is not the most beautiful batsman to watch, but he believes in himself and through that he has mastered his craft. Now the rest of the flock trusts their national cricket captain because he has the ability to deliver.
Yet, Mathews is no Kapil Dev, Imran Khan or Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has to build his own character. For that he has to believe in his abilities and then let the rest of the players think he is the pied piper. When they believe in each other wining becomes a habit.
This is where the difference between good teams and the ordinary teams becomes evident — the characters who lead them become the authors of their accomplishments.