Akila Dananjaya polished off five wickets in just 13 balls to peg India back. (Source: PTI Photo)
At the 2013 IPL auctions, Pune Warriors, the now disbanded franchise, snapped up Ajantha Mendis for $725,000, 14-fold his base price of $50,000. By then, the Sri Lankan off-spinner’s mystery had started to fade. But he was still reaping the benefit of an elongated carry-over effect.
The 2008 Asia Cup final at Karachi had changed Mendis’s life, when he returned with 6/13 against India. A couple of weeks later, he decimated an exalted Indian middle-order comprising Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman on Test debut in Colombo. That his vim gradually ebbed is another story.
Like Mendis, Akila Dananjaya has become an overnight sensation, after his 6/54 against India at Pallekele on Thursday. Like Mendis, he bamboozled the Indian batting with his mystery, bowling wrist spin with the action of an off-spinner. Unlike Mendis, Sri Lanka’s new ‘spin doctor’ has had his ups and downs quite early in his career.
In 2012, Dananjaya was a callow 18-year-old without any experience in professional cricket. He directly made the grade, Sri Lanka’s World T20 squad, because Mahela Jayawardene was impressed with his variations. But his international initiation was difficult, and after a handful of ODIs and T20s, he was jettisoned back to the Max Cricket Academy in Colombo. But Pallekele could mark the real beginning of his international career, that at a time when Sri Lankan cricket has looked desperately for an inspiration.
Lady luck could be a factor in this turnaround. On the eve of the second ODI, Dananjaya returned to Moratuwa for his wedding. Rangana Hearth and Mendis were the witnesses – all three now can lay claim to tormenting Indian batting at some time or other. “I like Herath from those days. I like Ajantha too. Rangana is our number one. I liked them so much, and invited them to sign for my wedding,” Dananjaya would reveal after the match.
But what does he specialise in – off-spin, leg-spin, googly, carrom ball? “I’m an off-spinner. (My) wicket-taking balls are leg-spin and the googly. I realised that off-spin wasn’t helping much. So I decided to get back to my variations. The target we had to defend wasn’t too much either. So we had to take wickets. I bowled a lot of variations and it went really well,” Dananjaya said.
Inexplicably, the 23-year-old was taken out of the attack by his captain Upul Tharanga, when he had spun a web around the Indian batters. Dananjaya was brought into the attack in the 12th over during India’s chase. He bowled unchanged for eight overs, reduced the visitors to 131 for seven, taking six wickets and was replaced by Lasith Malinga, when both MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were still fairly new at the crease. Dhoni played mind games with him alright, using his feet and upsetting the youngster’s line.
Kumar was smart enough to treat him just as an incoming bowler, without being bothered about his away-goers. But defending a below par total, an in-form Dananjaya had been Sri Lanka’s best bet. “They were set and I thought better to get back later, or if someone breaks the partnership,” Dananjaya defended his captain. But coach Nic Pothas sounded sarcastic.
“Good question. Will ask the captain… Captain on the field has a gut feeling; how he is going to use his bowlers. Upul would have kept him back hoping for a wicket. Once we speak to Upul at the end of the day we will get to know better.” Just four ODIs and five T20 internationals in five years attest Dananjaya’s early travails. Training schedule played a part in his comeback. “He does skill training for three days a week and bowls for about 80 minutes a day,” Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge informed.
He also explained Dananjaya’s prolonged absence. “Akila was not around due to the fact that Sachithra (Senanayake) had been performing well for us. But he had an issue and had to remodel his action, and once he did that his effectiveness was less. We tried another off-spinner, and Akila was able to bounce back to the side.” In 2013, impressed with his mystery element, Kolkata Knight Riders had picked Senanayake for $625,000. Time will tell what lies in store for Sri Lanka’s new mystery man; if Pallekele could be the game-changer.
Tharanga gets 2-match ban
Meanwhile, the ICC has handed Tharanga a two-game ban for a “serious over-rate offence” in the second ODI. At the end of the match, the hosts were found to be three overs short, as per the SLC media release. This was the second time in three months Tharanga had been penalised for over-rate offence. He missed two games in the Champions Trophy as well.
Opener Danushka Gunathilaka, on the other hand, will be out of action for the next 10 days after injuring his right shoulder. Sri Lanka have called up Test captain Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne for the last three ODIs of the series. Chamara Kapugedera will lead the side in Tharanga’s absence.
