Wanindu - Worthy Wildcard?

By: Harsha Amarasinghe

Feb. 26 (Daily Mirror) - Wanindu Hasaranga has already become one of the most popular Sri Lankan captains in the recent past just a few games into his new tenure as the skipper of the Sri Lanka T20 team.   

Sri Lanka may have lost their third T20 against Afghanistan last week, but the manner in which the team was able to play, has clear indication that under Hasaranga, Sri Lanka would not mind taking an aggressive approach against any team.   

There was however, an incident which appears to become one of the talking points at the conclusion of the T20 game which Sri Lanka lost where one of the on-field umpires in Lyndon Hannibal failed to call a clear no-ball on the height. This triggered a very angry reaction from the newly-appointed captain who had a go at Hannibal as the teams were shaking hands. The leg spinner then went on to take a swipe at the umpire during his post-match press conference when he stated that the umpire needs to find a job in another field.   

This did not go down very well with the International Cricket Council (ICC) who have now suspended Hasaranga for a couple of T20 Internationals which will see him on the sidelines for the first two T20s against Bangladesh who have somehow become Sri Lanka’s arch-rival now.  

However, on the other hand, the Sri Lankan fans have been fully supportive of Hasaranga’s behaviour. The majority of them, appears to think that the skipper spoke for all the Sri Lankan fans during the controversial press conference.   

This raise the question whether Hasaranga is a worthy wildcard to captain the national team. 

Theoretically, there is no way one could justify his conduct given that cricket is a gentlemen’s game after all. Having said so, the game has changed so much over the last few decades.  

For instance, Virat Kohli may not be considered one of the nicest lads in cricket, but that doesn’t stop him from going down as the greatest batsman of all times, at least in ODIs.   

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were true gentlemen of the game - they played the game in the right spirit without causing much controversy - despite their glorious careers none of them were able to lift a World Cup as captain. Lasith Malinga only other hand, played the game slightly differently.

The fiery fast bowler did not shy away from being blunt. Especially, with the local media he has had a few run-ins. Yet no one could take away the fact that he is the only other Sri Lankan captain after Arjuna Ranatunga to lift a World Cup (2014).  

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan became Sri Lanka’s public enemy number 1 after he opted to controversially ‘time out’ Angelo Mathews during the 50-over World Cup that concluded recently. As much as people hate it, that was one moment that decided Bangladesh were going to ICC Champions Trophy next year and Sri Lanka are not.   

Hasaranga may not play the game in the spirit of Sangakkara or Rahul Dravid, he may not always get his decisions absolutely right, but under his captaincy Sri Lanka team will do everything possible to get the W.   

The former Richmond College star player was never groomed as a captain, but he currently leads a team which has at least five former skippers in Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis (ODI) and Charith Asalanka (Under-19).  

Hasaranga may be different from others, but he is proving his class with the bat and ball while captaining the team. Perhaps it’s time the selectors give him enough time to do what Lasith Malinga did as the captain.