Sanath's captaincy should boost his batting

From the deep South to the big city came Sanath Jayasuriya. He was cast in the mould of those colourful cricketers from the Caribbean.

Termed the masterbasher of the willow, his swashbuckling batting in the 1996 World Cup took the cricketing world by storm, and he laid the path in a big way for Sri Lanka's glorious triumph in the 1996 World Cup.

He was honoured for his brilliant performances by being voted the Most Valuable Player in the tournament. Wisden, the Cricketing Bible, picked him as one of the five Cricketers of the Year in 1997. Today he is rated as one of the most dashing batsmen in the international scene. He has proved his brilliance both in the 'cowboy game' and at Test level. He came to the limelight from humble beginnings.

He is not a product of those elitist Colleges like Royal, S. Thomas' and a few others, who produced the cream of cricketers before Sri Lanka attained Test status. He came from a school deep in the South: St. Servatius in Matara, not so well-known in cricketing circles.

Gentle by nature, he won the hearts of all Sri Lankan cricket lovers. If one might call the former skipper arrogant, Sanath is just the opposite. Pride is something alien to him.

The cricket selectors have taken the correct decision by appointing him Captain, in the aftermath of Sri Lanka's miserable performance in the 1999 World Cup. Sanath has proved his capability as skipper on many an earlier occasion. He has the potential to get the best from his players. It was only the other day that I read about Bruce Yardley's comments that Sanath was the correct choice. As Captain he has an uphill task ahead of him, in the wake of the forthcoming tour by the Aussies, the undisputed champions of the game.

He has the grit and determination to inspire his team-mates to counter the strong challenge from the Kangaroos from 'down under'.

He has played in the shadow of one of Sri Lanka's great and controversial captains, Arjuna, and he might have learnt much from that experience. Arjuna's exit was inevitable after his poor performance in the 1999 World Cup, yet he will remain a legend in the annals of Sri Lankan cricket for his great contribution to the game.

Yet his presence and that of Aravinda in the team is a must for some time, there is still much cricket left in them. They could bow out of the game when Sri Lankan Cricket finds batsmen of their calibre to replace them.