Jayawardene calm and collected ahead of Aussie showdown
WORLD CUP - The name might be complicated but Denagamage Proboth
Mahela de Silva Jayawardene, the captain of Sri Lanka, has a simple but
devastating approach to the game.
When he took over the leadership of the team from the injured Marvan
Atapattu in 2006, any fears that the burden of captaincy would crush his
natural attacking game were quickly put to rest.
He led his team to a 5-0 one-day whitewash over England and then
scored a Sri Lanka Test record score of
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Mahela Jayawardene
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374 against South Africa in
Colombo. For good measure, he and Kumar Sangakkara added 624 for the
third wicket - a first-class record.
But the 29-year-old Jayawardene came to the Caribbean with plenty to
prove as a World Cup player after a disastrous 2003 campaign in South
Africa were he made just 21 runs in seven innings and was dropped.
This time around has been dramatically different.
In 10 matches in the Caribbean, he is the second highest run-scorer
in the tournament with 529 runs to his name at an average of over 66.
His superbly-paced 115 not out in the semi-final win against New
Zealand was very much the highlight. Jayawardene says a combination of
the captaincy and the influence of Australian coach Tom Moody have been
key factors in his growing toughness.
“I have become mentally much stronger the last two years,”
Jayawardene said after scoring a maiden World Cup hundred.
“The captaincy probably would have helped but Tom definitely has
pushed me to the limits. He’s not happy when I’m cruising. He’s not
happy with anyone cruising. He has pushed me and I have found out I can
push myself as well.”.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Friday AFP
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