eelee345Join Date: 2012-03-19
Post Count: 6255 |
QUALITY ARTICLE BOYS.
Hettige Don Rumesh Lahiru Thirimanne. I am proud of myself for being able to pronounce that.
Thirimanne's career has gone through up and downs. His average in all three formats are underwhelming.
Sound familiar? To those of you who have read my articles, it should've, at least in past tense.
This is mirroring Rohit Sharma, my favourite cricketer, Mumbai Indians and India opening batsman. He had an underwhelming average for years in the limited-overs format, and it was only when he started making strides in those formats that he was given his Test debut. He immediately responded with 177 and 111 not out in his first two innings. A towering average of 288, he soon went downhill fast.
Thirimanne joined the Sri Lankan team as an injury replacement for Kumar Sangakkara. He struck 91, although it was not his debut match, it was his recall match. He then quickly struck 155* when playing against Bangladesh, his average 126.5 in his 3 innings since his recall. He soon went downhill fast.
Rohit Sharma averages 31.72 at positions 3-7 in ODI cricket.
Lahiru Thirimanne averages 33.87 in positions 3-7 in ODI cricket.
Rohit Sharma averages 53.35 opening in ODI cricket.
Lahiru Thirimanne averages 38.94 opening in ODI cricket, 39.94 if you take out his poor 2010.
Rohit Sharma's Test average is 33.18.
Lahiru Thirimanne's Test average is 24.16.
The list goes on and on. They are direct parallels. Rohit Sharma opened in only 3 innings until he was promoted to open in 2013. His ODI average then was 30.43. And then he was promoted to open, and it all came together.
Rohit Sharma's average in ODI cricket is now 42.08.
Lahiru Thirimanne's average continues languishing in the doldrums.
Are they direct parallels? Yes. The stats prove it. But more than the stats, it's the words that the top people say about these two that really put them together. Rohit was in the team because of "his talent," because he was the "future." Thirimanne stayed in the team because it was "unfair to criticize" him, and he had "huge potential." This backing has been critical.
The media and fans called for Rohit Sharma to be dropped in the limited-overs formats for years. Then came 2013 and his double hundred. Then came 2014 and his second double hundred. Then came 2015 and early 2016, with 5 ODI hundreds within a year, as well as India's second T20I hundred, from the World Cup to the Australia tour before the World T20.
The media and fans called for Lahiru Thirimanne to be dropped in the ODI format for years. Then came 2014 where Thirimanne won Sri Lanka the Asia Cup almost single-handedly. Then came 2015, in which he was Sri Lanka's third-highest run-scorer, beside the legend Kumar Sangakkara and the ever-aging Tillakaratne Dilshan. Then came 2016, in which he was relegated to 3, and still strung together match-winning performances.
The Sri Lankan media still call for Lahiru Thirimanne to be dropped from the T20I team. His average is, albeit, 16.16. But Rohit Sharma was in the same position, as late as September 2015. South Africa were playing India for 3 T20I's. People were complaining that Ajinkya Rahane was not opening in place of Rohit Sharma. I, for once, being the biased person I was, said that Rohit Sharma, the only man with 2 ODI double hundreds, should be given a chance at the top of the order- he would score a century, I was sure of it.
Indeed Rohit Sharma did. He blitzed the highest score by an Indian in T20I cricket, 106.
Rohit Sharma and Lahiru Thirimanne, both, after promising innings, have petered off and average low in Test cricket. They are both under pressure to stay in the XI. Rohit, from Stuart Binny, the allrounder who can bowl better than Rohit, and Thirimanne, from Kusal Perera, the wicketkeeper who can counterattack better than Thirimanne.
Yet they have proven, given the long rope, given the chances to bat in their preferred positions, that they are destructive match-winners. Thirimanne was groomed for 3 in Test cricket, as was Rohit. Rohit was relegated back to 6 for the South Africa tour in November, where he made his debut and struck his 2 hundreds, but still did not score heavily. Thirimanne was relegated to 6 to begin the England tour and then was promoted to 4, and still did not manage to score heavily.
Thirimanne has cemented his spot as Sri Lanka's long-term No. 3 in ODI cricket, and is being given the chances in T20I cricket.
Rohit has cemented his spot as India's long-term opener in ODI and T20I cricket.
Both are still being juggled around in Test cricket. They have not found their spot.
So what am I trying to say?
Rohit and Thirimanne are both one big innings away from finding their feet in Test cricket, and they will have found their spot in the Test team, their spot in the batting order. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say both of them were suited to 5. But in Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews occupies that spot. But in India, Ajinkya Rahane outplayed Rohit for that spot. Will they ever get 5?
I personally feel Mathews is better suited to 3, as is Rahane. But they bat at 5 because they have "better" 3's. Cheteshwar Pujara and Kusal Mendis, for example.
Should Thirimanne and Rohit find their feet in all formats, they will become deadly match-winners and will certainly average high. |