Sanath jayasurya! The ever youngerst player of all time cricket. He is now 41, and playing like a 20 year old. He is the best alrounder of one day cricket that cricket has ever had.He is the great legend for Sri Lanka. I cant imagine Sri Lanka team without him.It is meaningless to ask him to retire.Still Sanath has got the best ODI ratings, and he is the ODI king forever. Sanath is the best ever player of Sri Lankan cricket team, and he is same like Sachin for India. Nobody questions Sachin to retire, as we all know that still he has got good capacity to play. So even Sanath Jayasuriya !Jayasuriya started his career as a bowler, and was in that slot for years, in that time he held the best bowling figures for Sri Lanka 29/6 against England.Within years Ranatunga found the Batsman in him and that became his permanent slot , and he went on to become the greatest batsman Srilanka has ever produced.
His favourite shot is The square cut over point and sometimes over backward point too for a maximum and if we want to know more about his best shots maybe we can ask the indian cricket team too because he has hammered them like no one has done ever before.One amazing thing About sanath is that he hasn't changed his style of batting ever since he started playing for the team.As normally happend in the case of other players.They tend to be more cautious about their batting as they bcome more experienced.Jayasuriya is the master of sixes in both versions of game no doubt.
Sanath's Top 3 ODI hundreds are as follows,
1.189 vs india in sharjah
2.152 vs england in leeds
3.122 vs australia in sydney
His 23 ball 51 is the fastest ever 20/20 international fifty in the begining of T20 cricket. Sanath has won 41 Man of the match awards till now.I guess he was denied with the man of the match award in number of occasions (which he should have got).The best one i could remember was, he won the match for SriLanka against England, taking his career best bowling figures of 6/29 in less than 10 overs(It was the best bowling figures by a Sri Lankan at the time). Sanath hits sixes with such an ease that, You wont feel he has hit one.(offcourse the bowler wil feel) when dhoni hits just one six, everyone says what a player he is.But just take a look at this guy, he made sixes look so simple, that he hit 3 sixes in an over without much drama.He transforms himself various ways. First he was a fielder, then an orthodox bowler, then a pinch hitter, then a complete ODI batsman now Srilanka relies on him for complete test-openning batsman. Where can you find such a talented player? Mind that his statistics does not show his real talent. He has gone through so many phases. He is no.1 match winner for sure.
12-02-07
Sanath's last day as a test player.What a legend he is, what a career. Sanath has being anchor for Sri lanka's cricket in last 10 years or so especially in ODIs. To score more than 12000 runs and get over 300 wickets is not easy thing to do and first player to do it cricket history. He's ability to score quickly helped srilanka to win 1996 world cup.When we have look lankans world records he has done his part for every match.He has been one of the costliest player in the IPL season-1 and He was one among the leading high scorers.
Hope he'll continue his ODI career after retire from test cricket so we can see Sanath Jayasuriya special.Without Sanath,cricket shall be like a Heaven without God.
I miss my hero
I miss my role model
I will miss all the flair
I will miss all that magic
I will miss the fastest 50
I will miss the powerplay
I will miss the humbleness
I will miss the flamboyance
I will miss the kookabura bat
I will miss CRICKET
You will remain etched in our memories forever and ever and ever.You might retire buth your memories will never fade away from the field and off it too,you are our god and this humble follower of yours will always be with you.Thank you for whatever you have given us but i would still ask for some more.
Sanath Jayasuriya has his mind set on a new career as a commentator and that would open up a new chapter in the Matara Mauler's career.Whether the India series will be his last ODI is a question only he can answer, but the feeling is that his career as a player will start winding down within the next few years, Cricket's over for me the minute you retire.Rock on Sanath !!