The Tamil Tigers of Sri Lankan cricket

Muttiah MUralitharan

Ethnicity has always been a point of discussion in cricket. Whether it be England’s strategy of surrogate citizenship or blacks playing for South Africa or even the recent hue and cry regarding Parvez Rasool becoming the first player from Kashmir to play for India, the “odd one out” is more often than not a talking point.

Which is why it is surprising that no one has gone into an in-depth discussion regarding the Tamils to have played cricket for Sri Lanka given the violent civil war that raged in the country for two decades and, from time to time, even affected the game of cricket on the island.

There is no doubt who the most famous name on that list is but, apart from that, there are a few others who have impacted the way the game has been played in the country over the years.

Mahadevan Sathasivam

Ryan ten Doeschate may disagree but those who have seen “Satha” play say he was the best batsman not to have played Test matches. His fan following include the likes of Sir Garry Sobers and Frank Worrell who even subscribe to the view that he might have been the greatest batsman ever. Satha played for over two decades from the 40s to well into the 60s and, in the process, he became the first and, till date, only man to captain three national teams – Ceylon, Singapore and Malaysia. An accusation of murder marred his off-the-field reputation but nobody could discount his talent on it.

Sabapathy Ilangaratnam

One of a select band of Sri Lankan cricketers to be born in Jaffna, Saba Ilangaratnam was a stalwart for Moratuwa and Bloomfield before the Test match era began for Sri Lanka. Ilange, as he was popularly known, was a fast bowler although his demeanour hardly suggested so. He rarely bowled bouncers as there were no helmets back then and he felt that a yorker or any other delivery would be more effective in dismissing the batsman. He played most of his cricket under Sri Lanka’s first Test captain Bandula Warnapura and was good enough to make it to the team for an unofficial ODI against the visiting MCC team in 1977 and also against Keith Fletcher’s England team in the early 80s although he didn’t get a chance to play the second time around.

Sridharan Jeganathan

Jeganathan holds the dubious claim of being the first Sri Lankan Test cricketer to die but sadly enough his Test career does not have much else to talk about. A left arm spinner who could bat a bit in the lower order, Jeganathan was drafted in from the 1983 New Zealand tour where he managed a highest score of 8 and went wicket less in the two Tests he played. He made a comeback to the squad in the 1987 Reliance World Cup but, after a few insipid performances, dropped out from the international arena. He was a notable figure on the domestic circuit though and later went on to coach Malaysia.

Roy Dias

One of the more famous names on this list, Dias had an inauspicious Test debut against England as he fell to Bob Willis without scoring. He turned that around with a stroke-filled 77 in the second innings and, from that point onwards, became the cornerstone of the Sri Lankan middle order along with Duleep Mendis. He highlighted his class further on Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan with a doughty 109 – his highest Test score – at Lahore as the rest of the top order capsized against Imran Khan and mates. He would also star in Sri Lanka’s maiden Test and series win with two match winning fifties and a match saving 106 against India at home. Dias was also a useful off-spinner and all of his three international wickets came in a World Series game against Australia. After his retirement, Dias coached Sri Lanka for some time followed by Nepal and Oman.