Sanath Jayasurya by CHANDRESH NARAYANAN

Very rarely in history does one man shape the sporting fortunes of a nation. Sanath Jayasuriya quite clearly achieved that with just his forearms, but after a prolonged delay. He used his forearms to just whip the ball at will and then turned his arm over with the ball to leave behind a legacy that will be hard to emulate. For a nation yearning to break into the big league, it required just the unorthodoxy of Sanath to break away from the past. When lights shone brightly over Sri Lanka at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium in the 1996 Cricket World Cup, it was all down to the brilliance of this young man from Matara. While he made a name for himself as a rebel with a cause, he did change tracks later to take on roles quite alien to his nature as captain, chairman of selectors, politician and minister. But while success proved easier as a foot soldier, the rise in the ranks was not always that profitable. This is the story of that man.