Jayasurya the bowler with 400 plus international wickets
Sanath Jayasurya needs no introduction in international cricket. Sanath Jayasurya in tandem with Romesh Kaluwitharana changed the way batting is played in one dayers . Thanks to the Arujuna Ranatungas captaincy and the huge success of Jayasuriya and Kaluwithara as openers they sent new benchmarks for batting in one dayers. The focus till then in one dayers was on a steady start preserving wickets in the early overs butthanks to Jaysuryas exploits all international teams changed their focus to using pinch hitters at the top of the order and get the maximum in the first 15 overs.
While many remember Jayasurya's exploits with the bat not many remember the fact that Jayasurya started of his career as a bowler. In the tri series in Australia prior to World Cup in 1996 Jayasuriya was asked to promote the innings but met with little success. After the tri series Jayasurya met with huge success in the role of a unconventional opener who was assigned the task of getting a quick 25 to 30 odd by the captain. Jayasuriya was given the licence to go after the bowlers and clearly told not to worry about his batting average. However Jayasurya exceeded the expectations of his captains by getting quick runs and maintain a decent average.
Jayasurya is second only to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in terms of runs and centuries scored in one dayers. However the genius of Jayasuriya the batsman, has completely overshadowed the achievements of Jayasuriya as a bowler. Millions of cricket fans worldwide would find the fact hard to digest that Jayasuriya has picked up 436 international wickets as a bowler. With 322 wickets in one dayers Jayasuriya stands ninth in the all time list of wicket takers in one dayers. Jayasuriya has more wickets in one dayers than legendary bowlers Allan Donald, Shane Warne, Kapil Dev or Imran Khan. Jayasurya's tally of 98 wickets in Test Matches has been exceeded only by Muralidharan and Chaminda Vaas for Sri Lanka Jayasurya has a bowling average which can make any specialist Indian bowler proud as he averages 34.34, 36.35 and 23.37 in Test, One Dayers and T20 internationals.
Jayasurya's bowling is not just about picking wickets. Jayasurya is one of the best international bowlers in the world. In world cricket there is no bowler who can bowl the slog overs in one dayers better than Jayasurya as he mixes up his deliveries beautifully. In one particular match a well set Rahul Dravid batting on 45 plus, needed only 7 runs in the final over to win the match for India. Getting 7 runs in a over should be easy for any batsman in the world and it would have been easier against Jayasurya considering he is not a strike bowler but Jayasurya was too got for a seasoned campaigner like Rahul Dravid winning the match for Sri Lanka by restricting Dravid. While Jayasuriya is known for bowling tight and mixing delivery he can turn the ball a mile as and when there is assistance from the pitch. The way he turned the ball in the 1996 World Cup semi final at Eden Gardens against India is part of cricketing folk lore.
Eventhough Jayasurya's role in the team is that of a batsman, he is a very consistent bowler having picked up a combined 20 four wicket hauls in Tests and One Dayers. Picking 4 or more wickets in an innings is not the easiest of things even for a full time specialist bowler and considering the fact that Jayasurya's role is that of a specialist batsman and a occasional bowler, the performance is even more praise worthy.
Even after Jayasurya decides to call it quits, he still would be remembered for many more years by millions for his exploits with the bat. However Jayasurya exploits with the ball alone qualifies him of legendary status.
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