Sanga - most influential cricketer
By Peter Roebuck
Kris Sangakkarra is emerging as the most influential cricketer in his country. Taking advantage of another pitch bereft of bounce and an attack that might just as well have been called a defence, the stylish left-hander confirmed his flowering as a batsman with a committed and skilful innings that took his side into a powerful position.
In olden times cricketers used to talk about batsmen booking in for "bed and breakfast". Sangakkara went a good deal further and seemed inclined to turn his stay at the crease into an altogether lengthier occupation . As far as the South Africans were concerned he outstayed his welcome by several days. Along the way this fine product of Trinity School in Kandy introduced himself as a player of substance. It is one thing to take runs off a bunch of juveniles representing Zimbabwe, quite another to bat for a month or so against a confident and supposedly aggressive South African outfit.
Previously Sanga has seemed to be one of those creative, intelligent , poetic sort of fellows likely to score an ornate forty before wafting away outside off-stump and then departing with an air of profound regret. Rumours had spread that he read books, including the works of Oscar Wilde, an Irish wit whose oeuvre has not generally appealed to those appointed to the important task of taking the shine off the new ball. Wilde once pointed out that he could" resist anything except temptation" and there have been times when the same might have been said of the forthright left-hander.
Of course Sanga never was a lightweight. we are inclined to put me into boxes and to indulge in caricature. Nor was he ever as insouciant as David Gower, in some respects a fellow traveller. To the contrary he was as likely to become embroiled in an argument upon the field as Arjuna Ranatunga, and that is saying something. Plainly his intellect did not leave him hovering on the brink of the action like some Hamlet wondering whether to go forwards or back. He wanted to be involved in every minute of the game, felt he belonged in the heat of battle. He is a warrior in the guise of a philosopher, a patriot presented as a philosopher.
As much could have been guessed from Sanga's willingness to keep wickets, a job he carries out with a combination of aplomb and humour. From his perch behind the sticks the Kandyan produces a range of vivid facial expressions that accurately convey the thoughts of the inner man. When by some misfortune a ball eludes him or an appeal is denied there comes over him the offended look of a golfer whose ball has circled the hole without dropping.It as if a dark cloud has unexpectedly arrived in the middle of a sunny afternoon. At any moment his state of mind can be deduced from the look upon his map. Upon finding found aces in his hand he will beam. A man may not make a fortune at cards that way but for some it cannot be otherwise.
Not that his keeping has been a laughing matter. Indeed he has been at least as reliable as the gloved practitioners in the current Test match, amongst whom the African is suffering such a deterioration that his place must be in jeopardy. Nevertheless Sangakkarra's keeping is valuable mainly for the insight it provides into the workings of his soul. But it is his batting that sets him apart.
Sanga batted beautifully in Colombo. From the start he found the rhythm all batsmen seek, and with it came a blend between defence and attack often found in men on top of their games . His approach in the dying embers of the first day told a tale. By then South Africa had fallen back and harmless spin was being sent down from both ends. After many hours batting under a steamy sun, the Lankan might easily have lost his head and perchance his wicket. But danger lurked in the form of the second new ball. Accordingly the leftie rejected the opportunity presented by the mild tweakers and contented himself with accepting such runs as came along . Although his partner fell in the twilight, Sangakkarra lived to fight another day, a strategy that was duly rewarded.
Sangakkarra's performance in his capital city was the most impressive of an already distinguished career. In his own way he brings class and combativeness to the Sri Lanka team, a contribution that compliments the stoicism displayed by his new captain. In so many ways he is everything his country needs to be, bright, cosmopolitan, proud, thoughtful, unafraid and progressive. Happily these elements have ben released in this young man of his times. Perhaps it will prove to be contagious.
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