Bhanuka Rajapaksa – Truly World Class

By Harsha Amarasinghe

Bhanuka Rajapaksa may have had his fair share of fitness problems, but the left-handed middle order batsman proved that he is truly a world class batsman during the Asia Cup which Sri Lanka lifted in the heart of United Arab Emirates, Dubai, last Sunday (11).

Regarded mostly as a late-middle order slogger, Rajapaksa showed great temperament in the final to give Sri Lanka a very solid total against what was a very difficult pace attack. The former Royal College cricketer usually means business from the outset, smashing bowlers without any fear, but in the process, he does throw his wicket sometimes. Then again that’s how he plays and that’s what made him who he is at the minute, but Sunday was a different challenge for him.

His team had lost half the side in the grand final for just 58 runs and the pressure was mounting. At this point Rajapaksa made a decision not to play his usual attacking game. In fact, he opted to play second fiddle to all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga who was the more aggressive out of the two during their brilliant partnership for the sixth wicket.

However, as soon as Hasaranga got out, Rajapaksa took the responsibility and shifted gears against a pace attack which was dominating the Sri Lankan batsmen in the initial phases. His knock of 71 off 45 balls which included three sixes capped off one of the finest T20 knocks under pressure especially in a big final.

The boundary he struck in the penultimate over of the Sri Lankan innings where he paddled Naseem Shah through the fine leg region is a fine example of the new Rajapaksa – the thinking batsman – because Shah had already bowled a bumper which meant he needed to go full or good length and Rajapaksa anticipated this. It was indeed a full delivery but even if it was a good length delivery, he just needed a little touch over short fine leg. Some of the most successful T20 batsmen are the ones who read the game very well, and in Rajapaksa that is exactly what Sri Lanka have got.

There were clear signs that even world cricket is beginning to acknowledge the quality of the man. Pakistan captain Babar Azam had to bring in Iftikhar Ahmed as their sixth bowling option because he had rightly understood that Rajapaksa against the left arm spin bowling of Mohammad Nawaz was going to be a big problem for them. This meant that the right handers such as Wanindu Hasaranga could easily negotiate the right off-spinner rather than the left-arm spinner who could be much more problematic for right handers – ask Chamika Karunaratne.

Perhaps his Indian Premier League stunt has made him a better cricketer. Rajapaksa himself claimed during the IPL that he learned certain things about batting that he had never heard of previously. That is a huge statement from a batsman who has been playing cricket for nearly two decades.

This is the same cricketer who had announced his retirement a few months ago, and then came out of retirement within days. What could Sri Lanka do without him now – Bhanuka Rajapaksa Truly World Class.