An immaculate spell that earned Sri Lanka their sixth straight semi-final spot in ICC events: Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka with the astonishing figures of 5 wickets for 3 runs celebrates with teammates after dismissing Trent Boult of New Zealand. Sri Lanka successfully defended their meagre total of 119 on 31 March 2014 in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
On yet another wet, slippery and gloomy early summer day in England, two Sri Lankans were heading to Heathrow Airport. The owner-driver, a UK resident, picked up his mild-mannered, chubby-looking passenger, from Stoke-on-Trent in the northern country. Even at the end of a five-hour journey, they barely knew each other, save for their names and what they did for a living. This of course, is not a typical taxi-driver-and-passenger story. The wheelman was doing a favour to a friend. His unknown passenger in the shotgun seat, having received ‘summons’ from a cricketing heavyweight in Sri Lanka an hour before, was in a hurry to catch a flight to Colombo, departing in seven hours’ time. Feeling nervous to perform once again on the biggest stage, the passenger’s thoughts wandered around his childhood dreams. Never a bragger, he was focused, conserving all his energy for the forthcoming event.
Closer to the airport, the driver’s patience ran out. In Sinhala, he asked, ‘Malli (younger brother), up to what level of cricket have you played?’
Politely the passenger replied,
‘Test cricket.’
He being an ordinary fan and not an aficionado, was left speechless. In retrospect, it was hard to remember someone who had played only 14 Tests across nine years.
