Sri Lanka coach jests, 'Rangana Herath has just gone ahead of Roger Federer'

Impressed by Rangana Herath’s performance on day 3 of the Colombo (SSC) Test against Australia, Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford compared the veteran’s unflinching attitude to tennis icon Roger Federer’s persistence.

After a sharp delivery from Josh Hazlewood struck his groin, Herath had been forced to retire hurt in the midst of a vital partnership and also bowled without any reward during the previous day. However, the left-arm spinner did not let the injury affect him and brought his team back into the contest with a six-wicket haul.

At the end of the day’s play, Ford gushed, “I can't say enough about the bloke (Herath). I was joking in the dressing room saying he's my all-time sporting hero, he's just gone ahead of (Roger) Federer. He's injured, he's bowling on one leg and he just shows so much guts and fight. For an older guy to show that, it just ignites the fight within the younger group with the example that he sets.”

He added, “It really makes their (team management) job much easier when you've got a chap like that who goes out there and shows such courage batting, takes on the quicks and after his nasty incident batting, comes on to bowl and makes a couple of brilliant diving stops of his own bowling. If you've got an old man throwing himself like that, then the youngsters don't have any excuse.”

When Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh were piling on the runs, the match was slipping away rather quickly from Sri Lanka’s grasp. But, Herath got rid of the Australian skipper with a sublime delivery and went on to raze the middle-order which restricted their lead to just 24.

However, Ford admitted that there was still plenty of work left in order to ensure that the visitors were set a challenging total on a pitch which should deteriorate further during the next couple of days.

The 55-year old from South Africa felt, “It's been a heck of a tough Test match, a really tough three days for both sides with Test match cricket probably at its toughest. But, both sides are very much in the Test match right now and there's a heck of a lot to play for in the next two days. Both sides have outstanding players that are capable of changing the flow of the match over the next two days.”