Spotlight

Two contrasting milestones

by Srian Obeyesekere

It was in two wholly opposite milestone achievements so much apart in comparison that cricket beckoned Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene and Pakistan's Younis Khan to greatness, both wearing the captaincy mantle for their respective countries; one, nearing the end of his career as captain and for the other, exploring the newness in the job; achievements marred by the Lahore terrorist attack that has sadly crippled Pakistani cricket.

Younis Khan

Indeed, if Mahela Jayawardene made the first Test match at Karachchi the captivating ground of a fitting double century farewell salutation in his penultimate appearance as Sri Lanka captain, for Pakistan's Younis Khan the occasion was quite contrastingly a memorable baptism ground in his maiden tilt in the captaincy shoes.

In a Sri Lankan sense that innings meant much for Jayawardene. For, it was his first appearance in the job for his country having only but a fortnight ago announced that he was relinquishing the captaincy in what was bathed in controversy after nearly a four-year term While Mahela was adamant that three lost home ODI series' contributed to his decision that was also based on giving his successor sufficient time to prepare for the 2011 World Cup, talk was also rife that pressure had been brought upon him to leave the job with even names of two very senior players and officials said to have gone against him. Whatever the reasons, Mahela looked downcast ever since announcing his decision and it was sadly obvious that a golden career decorated perhaps the smallest made man in the game in tall deeds both as a batsman for the highest number of Test centuries by a Sri Lankan and several other individual records, and with the best captaincy record had dwindled.

In that perspective, that he rode over the recent downs that had cost him the captaincy in hammering an epoch-making 240 for his maiden double ton on foreign soil was a truly silver lining that Mahela brought back to importantly revitalise a career that he had promised to liven up in his strongest forte - batting once the captaincy mantle is off him.

In crediting him for his batting feats a strong point on what he is certain to bat on as he pursues his career solely as a specialist batsman would of course be Mahela's ability to translate half centuries into centuries and those into double tons.

As to Younis Khan, one of the sweetest timers of the ball, the right hander's mammoth 313 must serve as a captain, in his maiden appearance in the job leading from the front where notably Pakistan were chasing a huge Sri Lanka total of 644. Not only did he deliver with the bat.