De Silva will fight the good fight
Now
that there is a likelihood of elections being held to Sri Lanka Cricket,
the canvassing game has been called play. And in the coming days all
hell will surely break loose.
Those who were frustrated after being deprived of holding office in
Sri Lanka Cricket and enjoying the good times, will now pad up and play
all the reverse sweeps and the scoops and improvised strokes to get
elected.
While some names have been mentioned as to who the contestants are
going to be, there is news trickling in that Sri Lanka Cricket Interim
Committee Chief D. Somachandra de Silva will also field a team that will
include Suraj and Kapila Dandeniya who have displayed their
organisational skills and efficiency and contest the elections. Their
main platform is likely to be 'we confounded critics and delivered'.
And we see no reason why he shouldn't.
Having the credentials that none of the others have whose names have
been mentioned in the race, De Silva is confident of romping home an
easy winner.
Cricket credentials
Having played for Sri Lanka, shone in league and county cricket in
England and having been a national captain, he is easily the best man in
the race with top class cricketing credentials. The other contestants
are lacking in these all important credentials.
In addition he has been at the helm of the Interim Committee for long
now and has had a peep into what the player, the game and the
administration needs, and is well versed to deliver and continue the
good work he has done and continuing to do.
De Silva and his efficient band of men saw to it and delivered one if
not the best World Cup tournaments in its history. When critics were
hitting him hard and predicting that the stadiums would not be ready
when World Cup time comes around, he cocked a snook at his detractors
and froze them and they too marvelled at his work.
De Silva was able to garner the support of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa as the President who likes people who deliver found in De
Silva a person who is focussed on getting the job done. Such support is
key as there are many hurdles that get in the way.
Shows gratitude
And De Silva also was quick to recognise that the hidden talent and
potential in the country needs to be tapped. So he successfully promoted
Gamata Cricket the concept of the sports loving President to every nook
and corner in the country.
Recently I met three illustrious individuals in former Nalanda,
Saracens and Adastrians cricketer Mahinda Athulathmudali, and two
brilliant doctors in Deepal Weerasekera a Gynaecologist and a Surgeon in
Dr. Ramesh Nadesan who marvelled at the three international stadiums
that De Silva completed for the 2011 World Cup. They all said in unison
that De Silva had done a wonderful job and that it is men who are
gluttons for work and who have the ability to get things done like De
Silva who should be elected to continue and take the game forward.
When the Sri Lanka team delivers, critics praise the players. When
they fail, these critics are quick to assign blame on De Silva, unfairly
of course.
De Silva is confident that the team he fields will be able to deliver
the goods. He is a cool hand and a deft strategist.
Sachin a demi god
Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian cricketing great is no doubt a demi-god.
Every time he walks out into the middle to take strike, the spectators
give him defeaning cheers. Every time the ball strikes his bat and goes
screeching to strike the boundary boards, his supporters go into ecstasy
and keep baying for more. More often than not he obliges his legion of
fans with memorable knocks. The moment he is dismissed, there descends a
deathly silence. His supporters go into funeral mode and one needs not
guess that the bowler who dismissed him or the fielder who took the
catch being cursed.
Immensely popular
Tendulkar is immensely popular and the wish of his fans are that he
continues to play even when he is helped by a walking stick and regale
them with his excellent stroke play and big scores. Placards sprout the
moment he walks out on to the field. One placard that is commonly used
is CRICKET IS RELIGION IN INDIA, SACHIN IS GOD. The other day there were
these placards SACHIN I WANT TO MARRY YOUR SON ARJUN and SACHIN ADOPT
ME.
Good batting form
In the on going IPL Twenty20 in India, Tendulkar is continuing his
good batting form and with his clever captaincy has led his team Mumbai
Indians to the top of the points table and seem assured of a berth in
the semi-finals. Fast bowlers in cricket are always a wonderful sight in
the game every time they dash to deliver their thunderbolts at opposing
batsmen. They are temperamental as they come and while being the scourge
of the batsmen are the darlings of the spectators. In recent times two
speed guns who made waves and sent batsmen ducking with life threatening
missiles and brought spectators rushing to watch them deliver their
thunderbolts retired from the established game without much fan fare.
Rawalpindi Express
The first was Rawalpindi Express Sohaib Akhtar and our own Lasith
Malinga. The likes of Akhtar and Malinga will never again surface in the
longer version of the game, which game cricket is all about.
While the circumstances that forced Akhtar to quit were sad, a career
threatening knee injury forced Malinga out. While Akhtar is out of the
game, Malinga is exploding in the IPL. Malinga is the top bowler with
the most number of wickets in the IPL and at the time of writing and
with many more matches to be played and if he continues to capture
wickets will be in line to win the glittering limousine that is on offer
to the Best Player. We will be in England covering Sri Lanka cricket
team's tour describing all that is happening. Stay with the SUNDAY
OBSERVER and the DAILY NEWS.
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