Farveez Maharoof:
Talent that fell on the wayside?
by Tyrell Peiris
Mohamed Farveez Maharoof worked
himself into the Sri Lanka team as a bright spark. Some years ago he
made his debut for Sri Lanka in a sense with somewhat of the same
bubbling promise as Angelo Mathews did after him. For a player who
showed great potential as a future all-rounder at the highest level,
Maharoof is today sadly sidelined from national duty for sometime now.
His abrupt exit from the Lankan team does not augur well for our
cricketing side considering the importance attached to giving
up-and-coming talent a hand.
 Certainly, Maharoof did make a mark so much so as to become a front
ranking bowler sharing the new ball. And sharing the new ball, Maharoof
did make an impression being among the wicket-takers with some pleasing
swing bowling. His induction to the Lankan team in fact was on the basis
of Maharoof being adjudged the ‘Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the
Year’ some seasons ago. What is disheartening about the 25-year-old
future prospect is that he has now fallen on the wayside at a time Sri
Lanka is looking at the 2011 World Cup in the sub continent.
To lose such talent does not augur well for our cricket considering
the vast potential Maharoof put into his bowling both with precision
in-swing and out-swing that earned him 116 0DI wickets from 91 matches
and 24 Test wickets from 20 outings.
This is quite a pleasing achievement apart from his batting which saw
him make 973 runs from 91 ODIs and 338 from 29 Tests. It is hoped that
such promising talent will not be let to wither away and that the new
selectors will put Maharoof back on track. Maybe his batting suffered
somewhat. But then it could be argued that with the brunt of sharing the
new ball drew more concentration from the lad in that area.
For the record, Maharoof first made his impression in the U19 World
Cup in Bangladesh in which he captained the Sri Lankan team. He enjoyed
a prolific school career at Wesley College, with the highest score of
243 and best bowling figures of 8 for 20.
Maharoof has a sound batting technique and is able to adapt to many
different scenarios. He is mostly known as a player who can score quick
runs down the order, but he can also bat a more patient innings,
especially if the top batting order collapses.
Maharoof’s Test match bowling figures does not show his natural
talent, as he is largely under-bowled, especially in the 2nd innings of
Test matches. This was demonstrated in the 3rd Test between England and
Sri Lanka in 2006 when he did not bowl in the entire match.
In the qualifying round of the 2006 champions trophy, he picked up
the best bowling analysis in the history of the tournament (6-14), which
is also the ninth best analysis in all ODIs. That was against the
defending champions West Indies and was Maharoof’s first five wicket
haul in ODIs.
Maharoof took 4/23 against Bermuda and became the first Sri Lankan to
take a 4 wicket haul on his World Cup debut.
On October 7, 2007 Maharoof took his 100th wicket in his 75th ODI,
becoming the fastest Sri Lankan to reach that landmark, beating Murali
by one match.
Maharoof got married on Saturday July 18, 2009 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Many Sri Lankan and Pakistani cricketers attended the all rounder’s
wedding. |
