Aravinda de Silva applauds Sri Lanka's new abrasive approach
Charlie Austin - 26 November 2002
Veteran middle order batsman Aravinda de Silva, the longest serving
international cricketer on the circuit today, has applauded his younger
teammates for their abrasive, never-say-die approach in the final Test
against South Africa.
Sri Lanka nearly pulled off a dramatic victory on the last nerve-tangling
day at Centurion as South Africa lost seven wickets chasing a moderate 121
for victory.
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De Silva, who watched the match from Colombo having retired from Test
cricket in October, was impressed by attitude shown by the likes of Kumar
Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold, who took the game to the
South Africans.
The heated verbal exchanges between Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and the
Sri Lankan fielders raised eyebrows amongst those used to watching Asian
sides succumb meekly overseas.
De Silva, a vastly experience batsman who will be playing his 289th game on
Wednesday, has seen first-hand Sri Lanka's steady rise from international
minnows in the 1980's to the competitive force they are today.
"We have a new bunch of players that play the game differently to what we
are used to," said De Silva after joining the team in Johannesburg for five
One-Day Internationals.
"They are not scared to give as good as they get. They are not over
aggressive but, compared to other sides of the past, they are not prepared
to sit back and take it without giving something back."
Although skipper Marvan Atapattu admitted afterwards that there had been "a
little too much" verbals for his liking, De Silva has no qualms about
sledging as long as they players are mature and that the banter stays on the
field.
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"It is a good thing as long as it is left on the field and the players get
on well with each other afterwards. It is not something that we really did
in the past. But it's become part of cricket now and it possibly makes the
game more interesting."
De Silva felt that Sri Lank could have won that Test if the batsmen had been
able to muster together a handful more runs.
"We played really well in that game and with another 50 runs on the board we
would have won. We fought back really well and thanks to players like Hashan
Tillakaratne, we were in the game right up into the last day."
He hopes that the Sri Lankans can carry some of that fighting spirit into
the forthcoming one-day series. If they can then he believes that Sri Lanka
will upset the Proteas on home soil.
"If we play as well as we can then we can win here," he said. "We lacked a
bowler in Potchestroom and the rain breaks did not make it easy for us. I
don't think too much should be read into that game. The eventual target was
very difficult."
De Silva is now looking forward to a final swansong. He has already
announced his retirement after the World Cup and will no doubt be looking to
finish on a high.
"The world cup is what has kept me going, without that I might have retired.
But I am feeling in good nick at the moment and I enjoyed the game at
Potchestroom even though we lost."
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