Jayasuriya's fascinating journey takes final bend

The Kandy Test may have showered Muralitharan with all the glory, but it was also a 'memorable' one for another member of the Sri Lankan cricket's Holy Trinity.

The highest run-getter for the Islanders in both forms of the game, Sanath Jayasuriya called time on his Test career, though it was overshadowed by his long time teammate's magical exploits with the cricket ball.

Before one knew, two members of their 'golden generation' - first Atapattu and now Jayasuriya have stepped out of the scene in two weeks. In a way, it was so typical of their personalities: humble and understated to a point where you almost start taking them for granted.

While Jayasuriya holds a special place in the pantheon of the one-day greats, winning his country a World Cup and taking them to the final of another after a gap of more than a decade, his Test exploits have often gone unnoticed.

Marathon effort

Not only did he finish as the topscorer for them with 6,973 runs at a 40-plus average, his marathon effort of 340 against India is only the seventh in the list of highest individual Test scores.

Ask the current Indian bowling coach, Venkatesh Prasad, who was one of those at the receiving end over almost three days and he still confesses to having nightmares!

The Jayasuriya journey had been nothing short of a fascinating one, given the mediocre start that he has had to his career.

When he started off in 1989-90 as a lower order batsman who could bowl some handy left-arm spin, nobody had an inkling that he could one day end up in cricket's Hall of Fame. He neither had the gift of timing of a Aravinda De Silva or the correctness of a Roshan Mahanama, another member of Ranatunga's merry men of '96, but still went on to become one of the biggest late bloomers of the game.

In hindsight, one feels that the success that his unorthodox approach gave him in that World Cup gave Jayasuriya the self-belief that he was destined for greater things.

Favourite tool

The famous hand-eye coordination, with which he could unleash the cut or the short arm pull to such deadly effect, was his favourite tool in the Test arena also. He may not have been the best player of the moving ball, but the discipline which he instilled into his batting with growing years also worked behind his longevity as a player.

He may have had more ups and downs in his career than most in the sub-continent, including a sack from the Test squad not too long ago, but it's that special brand of resilience which has helped him bounce back a vital cog of the team every time.

For those who believe that players relying on reflexes have a shorter career span than the technically correct ones, one hopes Jayasuriya continues to prove them wrong for some more time in the one-dayers.

While Jayasuriya holds a special place in the pantheon of the one-day greats, his Test exploits have often gone unnoticed.