Mahela Jayawardene - Sri Lanka's repair artist

I am a fan of the repair artists. I grew up watching Javed Miandad grafting the innings for Pakistan when the others around him used to dig their own graves. Javed Miandad left and I got thrilled to watch the grit over flair from the willows of Steve Waugh, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Michael Bevan. Whenever the chips were down these disaster artists rose to the occasion to save their team after being jolted by a sudden shake.

These repair artists had a certain quality which the rest didn't use to possess. Many batsmen score runs, many batsmen cherish records but very few are able to become a repair artist. Very few can deliver the best when the going gets tough. They offer intensity and bring something significant to cricket. They just give grit a good name when the others are obsessed with flair.

In their game you find No Regrets, Never Satisfied, and Never Say Die.

At Galle and today at Colombo I enjoyed another Mahela Jayawardene's repair works. He came into bat and defied two hat-trick chances and went on to score hundreds when his team was traveling through the troubled waters. He stood up against the opponent’s awesome artillery with guts, resuscitated his team’s tattered batting order amidst of a disaster and painted two finest paintings on a the green canvas of Galle and Colombo.

Mahela Jayawardene came to bat at 15 for 3 and 30 for 3 respectively at Galle and Colombo. Sri Lanka's condition was shoddy. When Mahela tried to focus properly, he could smell perfume balls from the English pacers. But Mahela acted calmly and rather than responding drastically to a drastic situation, Mahela blended caution and guts with his cricketing skills in the best possible manner.

 Mahela started to repair the disasters at Galle and Colombo at first by dropping down the anchors, resuscitating the tattered innings with caution, got himself into the groove with astonishing authority by scripting strokes of high pedigree.

As soon as he got adapted to the situation we could see Mahela’s ability to milk the English bowlers with top quality strokes. The drives were executed with silky touches while the sweeps were just like a painter adjusting colours to his art with his painting brush.

Sri Lanka’s continuous feeding of limited-over’s cricket for the last three months or more had been evident in the first morning at Galle and at Colombo today. But the notable exception had been Mahela Jayawardene who made batting effortless and single handedly tackled the guile of the English attack with enough grit, perseverance and authority to ensure Sri Lanka had enough total on the board.

Mahela’s magical 180 proved critical in registering Sri Lanka’s win over England and how instrumental this polished knock of 105 at Colombo will be; only time will answer. But Mahela’s grit over flair both at Colombo and Galle has been an inning to cherish for those who don’t surrender to overstatements.

Mahela Jayawardene has always an answer for the adversities. He is a genuine leader and leads by an example when situation is muggy. Mahela Jayawardene is Sri Lanka’s crisis man when his team’s batting is in a mess. He is a repair artist.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar