Memories Of Greatest Cricketers - - #8 Shane Warne

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Wasim Akram said this incident in a talk show. During a test match against West Indies, Viv got out in his ball, for no reason Akram shouted with some foul and rude language. Viv gave a polite look and left the ground. At the end of the day Viv was waiting for him in the boundary line and when he saw Akram he removed his shirt and shouted with an angry face “Come on! Let’s fight!!” Looks like Akram got scared and pummified

[Sanguine Sridhar]

ARAVINDA DE SILVA

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Bio-data :

Full name : Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva
Born : October 17, 1965, Colombo
Age : 42 years
Major teams : Sri Lanka, Auckland, Kent, Nondescripts Cricket Club
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Bowling style : Right-arm offbreak


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Record:

http://content-search.cricinfo.com/s...yer/48462.html

[Murali Srinivas]

Dear Sri,

I don't have a great recollect of Aravinda. But of course he was still active till early 2000. Prabhu a great fan of Aravinda will be able to capture more of him.

My favourite shot of Aravinda was his hook cum pull shot. He had a dream run in 1996 World Cup. In fact he was the one who was responsible for our defeat at the World Cup semifinals at kolcutta.

Another knock of his which almost snatched victory from us was in the 1998 cup final at Sharjah. With Sachin and Sourav having put on a record stand of 256 (or 254?) for the opening wicket , India piled up 307. With Aravinda's century, SL almost made up and fell short by just 7 runs, with Aravinda getting run out.

But one thing about him. He was all class when compared with his colleagues who were more of power rather than grace and timing.

Will come back if I can recollect more

Regards

[P_R]

To me Aravinda will be the greatest SriLankan cricketer.Yes Jayasuriya and Murali will have more records to boast of, more matches won by their dominance and command over the craft. Aravinda, was not just a craftsman. He was an artist. To watch him in flow, control the pace of a match, adjust his game to the situation is to understand what batting is all about.

I first saw him only in the '92 World Cup. He had 8 years of cricket under his belt already and was captaining the side for the tournament. In many matches he outshined his team mates. The first match I remember him is the knock is the Hero Cup 2nd semi. A half century for a losing side when everyone else collapsed. The story of his career..till then. Post '96 his class was up for display.

First: my favourite de Silva shot.

The way he would use the pace of the ball is remarkable. He would spot a furious outswinger early, lean back and away (instead of forward and into the line). And then he would wait. And wait he would for a thrilling agonizing amount of time. Even the backlift would seem defensive with no sign of what is to come. Then he would let loose that late cut with such ferocity that one would understand why he was called Mad Max. Point had absolutely no chance seeing the ball, let alone stopping it. A wide third man would madly attempt to race with a perpendicular ball, in vain. And all this in one fluid motion. From his demeanour you won't even be able to gather whether he knew he was aware that he was poetry. His expression would be something like: "okay, what's next" !!!

I remember a match against South Africa (don't recall where) where he collected half a dozen boundaries through his late cut off Donald and company. Jonty Rhodes at point/backward point, mind you. Donald tries to bounce short to get him to nick something to third man. Aravinda would have none of that. Excellent control of bounce, his backfoot movements adjusting to the line to dispatch actually very good balls.Call me old, but we just don't get to see these kind of context in these days of slam-bang cricket.

And there is this charge that he was not comfortable with spinners. People who say that have not watched him play his late cuts of Warne. He was one of the very few who were comfortable playing Warne staying in the crease - everyone else who tasted success with Warne - came down the wicket and thereby changed the length of the delivery. A bit like reverse sweeping
But Aravinda's played Warne on 'fair' terms. This is not to say he did not come down the wicket. He was good at that too. But where he stood out was in bravely late-cutting Warne even when Taylor, Waugh etc packed the place with silly point, slips etc. He had so much confidence in having sighted the ball, picked up the line and spin. If that is not comfort I don't know what is. Dravid is the only other player I have seen whose range of shots of the backfoot come close to Aravinda.

More to come on....

His hook
His innings pacing
When he goes ballistic
The intelligent bowler that he is

PS: Sorry am not sharp with the match details in this post. My recollection of exact matches is pretty sketchy for matches/tournaments without India.

[P_R]

Another knock of his which almost snatched victory from us was in the 1998 cup final at Sharjah. With Sachin and Sourav having put on a record stand of 256 (or 254?) for the opening wicket , India piled up 307. With Aravinda's century, SL almost made up and fell short by just 7 runs, with Aravinda getting run out.

That match was in Colombo.

de Silva's wicket was the turning point. They needed less than 6 an over with Mahanama and de Silva batting it was SL's match.
Agarkar - in one of the rare matches when he played for India - won the match for us.

But one thing about him. He was all class when compared with his colleagues who were more of power rather than grace and timing.

[Roshan]

Mr Murali and Prabhu


Prabhu, waiting for you to continue

[crajkumar_be]

Murali Sir/PR,


His short-arm pull and the square cut
Also, his on-drives (slightly towards midwicket rather than straight down) were deadly

yen +2 chemistry (or was it physics) paritchai veena ponadhukku main reason De Silva (WC 96 semifinal) He was the main edhiri of the Yindhiyan team!

That match was in Colombo.

de Silva's wicket was the turning point. They needed less than 6 an over with Mahanama and de Silva batting it was SL's match.
Agarkar - in one of the rare matches when he played for India - won the match for us.

adhuvaraikkum gaali nu dhaan nenachitrundhen

Agarkar - Rarest of the rare occassions

[Vivasaayi]

Aravindha de Silva

A very compact player.My next favourite batsman after sachin.whats special about sachin,aravinda type batsmen are.. they make the shots look easy.his footwork,shots everything look compact and easy.

The linchpin of the succesful team in 1996 who consolidated whenever jayasurya dint fire.Useful offspinner.

He carries the innings with such confort and good pace like INZI.his cut shot and the leg flick(not squarer...a bit straight)were

he fields quite well for his physique

[hub rap]

A class act. He once on-drove an inswinging delivery from aquib-javed to the fence. mei-silirththu-pOnEn

I believe the above emoticon is noteworthy and not notworthy :P

[ajithfederer]

Bilus doo dodal evvalavoo??

yen +2 chemistry (or was it physics) paritchai veena ponadhukku main reason De Silva (WC 96 semifinal) He was the main edhiri of the Yindhiyan team!