Tillakaratne Dilshan sent shockwaves through the Sri Lanka cricket setup when he announced his retirement a couple of days ago. Dilshan, who matured over the course of his career from an inconsistent middle-order batsman to one of the most explosive openers the game has ever seen, was apparently reluctant to retire and was pressured into retirement, with the selectors looking to create a young side with the 2019 World Cup in mind.
Dilshan has announced his retirement from the ODI and T20 sides, having played his last Test in the autumn of 2013. Dilshan is one of the game’s favourite sons, the sort of cricketer that gets the crowd involved, on the edge of their seats, as he takes them on a rollercoaster ride.
As Dilshan calls curtains on a 17 year long international career, here are 5 reasons why his retirement is Sri Lanka Cricket’s loss:
1) Last member of Sri Lanka’s golden generation
Sri Lanka Cricket have had a number of household names over the years. While Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda Da Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya had carried the baton along with Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralidharan at one point of time, the trio of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan were destructive at the peak of their career.
Mahela Jayawardene took his final bow after the 2015 World Cup and his good friend, Kumar Sangakkara joined him a couple of months later. Now with Dilshan’s retirement, the Sri Lankan batting order has an all new look to it. Dilshan was a big-match player, never afraid to perform on the biggest stage, never fazed by the poorest odds and Sri Lanka might struggle to cope with the loss.
2) Collosal run maker
There is no doubt that Tillkaratane Dilshan was an absolute run machine. He was a ‘late bloomer’, but since the turn of the decade, he has been unstopabble across the 3 formats of the game. He became just the fourth Sri Lankan batsman to amass 10,000 ODI runs after Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
He ends his career with over 5000 Test runs, 10,000 ODI runs and nearly 2000 runs in T20Is. With the emergence of the T20 format, Dilshan proved to be a superstart in the shortest format as well. His style of play suited the fast-paced nature of the game and he excelled for Sri Lanka.
3) Aggressive style
While nowadays, a number of world class batsmen have really a really good strike-rate, Dilshan belonged to the older breed. He was one of the few cricketers in the world who had the ability to change the entire complexion of the game every time he walked out to the middle. If India had Virender Sehwag, Sri Lanka had Tillakaratne Dilshan.
A strike rate of 86 in ODIs and 120 in T20s speak for itself. The opposition’s bowling was always on the back foot as soon as he came into bat and his dynamism with his unique range of shots was a treat to watch.
4) Innovative shot-making
Straight drive, cover drive, dilscoop, pull shot, hook. Notice the anamoly? Such was Dilshan’s ability to manufacture a shot, that a shot was named after him. The ‘Dilscoop’, an aggresive shot played to a length ball over the head of the keeper became one of the most effective weapons in the limited overs formats of the game.
Many have tried to ape the shot, but no one has come close to pulling it off as effectively as the Sri Lankan batsman did. Apart from the dilscoop, Dilshan had the ability to cut and pull the ball very effectively, with a rapid bat-swing that made him very tough to bowl to.
5) Fielding and bowling
Dilshan is regarded as one of the best fielders in the world. That statements holds true to this day, even though he’s been around for a while and is currently 39 years old. A deadly fielder at backward point, or anywhere across the ground, his fiery quick insticts and ability to get into position and take almost impossible catches, always put a doubt in the batsman’s mind.
He was also a very effective bowler. He is part of a very exclusive group of players who have taken 100 ODI wickets and scored 10,000 runs. His ability to bowl gentle off-spin was one often used by the skipper and he generally chipped in with a wicket.
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