Former Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who was in Doha recently, speaks
about how he and his team brought about the change in cricket thinking and
successfully introduced the idea of hard-hitting in first 15 overs. By Umer Nangiana
No matter you are the world’s most feared bowler; he would send you straight down the ground for a six the very first ball of the match. Likewise, the next five too, if you can’t hold your nerve. Even the champion bowlers of his era were wary about the opener, Sanath Jayasuriya.
Rightly crowned ‘master blaster’, the Sri Lankan batting sensation had been the most feared in the cricketing world during the 90s. Before him, no single batsman would have hooked, pulled, top-edged, outside-edged, wrist-flicked, square-cut and driven-over-covers the fast bowlers for sixes.
Imagine the bowlers’ dilemma. Where else would one pitch the bowl then? A true pioneer of the unconventional in One-Day cricket, Jayasuriya, along with his then opening partner Romesh Kaluwithrana, were the first to challenge the orthodox.
At a time when teams would be content scoring 50-60 in the first 15 overs and keeping wickets in hand, the Sri Lankan opening pair introduced the idea of an all-out attack from the word go. Jayasuriya single-handedly changed the face of the game. The traditions he set are being followed till this day.
Wearing a body hugging tee flaunting his dreaded forearms, the 46-year-old Sri Lankan looks fit to play a game even today. Jet-lagged from travel, couched in his friend’s living room here in Doha, Jayasuriya graciously waits to meet this reporter.
In that familiar polite tone, he tells us about how he and Sri Lanka brought about the change in the cricket thinking and successfully introduced the idea of hard-hitting in first 15 overs in ODIs.
“That transition happened when one of our openers got injured. That time we were also thinking of make best use of the first 15 overs restrictions that were introduced around that time. Arjuna Ranatunga (then captain of Sri Lanka), Duleep Mendis (then manager) and Dav Whatmore (coach) were thinking of different plans,” recalls Jayasuriya.  
“They decided for me to open. They had seen my style of batting. So they wanted me to go out there and play my game,” adds the cricketing legend. And he did play his game. Until he hung his boots, no team was able to sort out Jayasuriya’s batting. Those were exciting times.
“I have been an explosive batsman ever since I was in school. I have always been an attacking cricketer. But whenever I would get to 30-40 runs, I would go on to make scores,” says Jayasuriya with the same keen, shining eyes, reminiscent of the 90s.  
For Jayasuriya, it all started just before the 1996 World Cup. After a few random stints as opener, he was permanently given the position when Roshan Mahanama, the opener, got injured.
“I and Kalu (Romesh Kaluwithrana) started opening batting in Australia series in 1995. First time, I opened batting (with the new style) against Pakistan in Sri Lanka. In three ODIs, I scored three 50s,” remembers the former Sri Lankan master blaster.  
Yes, he says, the fast pace and explosive mode did excite him. But he always preferred to keep things simple. “When people like your game, want you to play in a certain way, you give in to their demands. If you think a lot about it, it puts you under a lot of stress. I kept it simple for me. Even when I was attacking and was going after the bowling, I did not want to just stop in 20s or 30s. I wanted to score big runs. I would try to get to 100s,” Jayasuriya explains.  
How did he manage to launch the new mode of batting blitz and sustained it for so long? “I personally got over that mental block,” says Jayasuriya, who at one point was so fluent in that attack, he could hit the ball for six from anywhere to any part of the ground. “Well, sometimes you see the ball very early. So then you start hitting, if it clicks, then you go on to play your natural game,” he explains, smiling.
“When you strike the bowlers, their line and length gets disturbed and they try different things. In the process, they start bowling both sides of the wicket. As long as they do not bowl according to their plan, I am okay. Otherwise, they target your weaknesses and trouble you. So I tried to keep things the way I wanted them to be,” he reveals.
Jayasuriya would always be remembered for his style and not perhaps for over 13,000 runs that he amassed in over 400 ODIs besides scoring thousands in Test cricket too. In his time, he was a force to reckon with for any top-of-the-line bowler. Jayasuriya once irked even the mighty West Indian, Curtly Ambrose.
After being top-edged for a six, Ambrose wanted to see Jayasuriya’s bat to see if it has anything on it.
“Well, you know sometimes my bat speed and the hand and eye co-ordination is different. So the ball would always go fast. So people started thinking that I had something in my bat,” Jayasuriya chuckles.  
There was nothing like that. You cannot play like that. About the Ambrose episode, he says it was nothing much. “You see they were great bowlers. So when he saw somebody hitting him so hard, he came up to me and said he wanted to see my bat,” Jayasuriya tells us.
He would not shy of going after the bowler every ball of the over. Ask Amir Sohail of Pakistan, who once faced the brunt, five sixes in six balls. “It was ball-by-ball, playing by merit and not thinking about anything else. It is all about anticipating the bowler’s move. That is where you play smart cricket,” says the master batsman. However, one bowler who scared even the master blaster was Pakistan’s former captain, the legendary left-arm pacer, Wasim Akram.
“He was an exceptional bowler. His variations work with accuracy, it was scary,” recalls Jayasuriya. Waqar Younis also used to trouble you? “Yes, he too was a good bowler but Wasim was different. Waqar, Glen McGrath, Courtney Walsh, Ambrose and Shane Warne, they all were excellent bowlers. I liked playing fast bowlers more than spinners though,” says Jayasuriya.
The fearsome former opener disagrees that Sri Lanka has not been able to produce another Jayasuriya. “I think we have Kusal (Perera) now. He is a very good player. The thing is when players retire, guys like Mahela Jayawerdene, Kumar Sangakara and Rangana Herath, they are very difficult to replace,” says the man who could never been replaced himself by anyone until now. However, he thinks batsmen like Tilakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga succeeded him and Kalu successfully. Jayasuriya believe youngsters have to be given time to establish themselves.
Why have you never coached the Sri Lankan team?
“I was the chairman of selectors for two years. I just resigned a month ago. It is a lot of work you know and I wanted time to myself as well,” replies Jayasuriya. These days he is doing a few commentary jobs and whatever time he gets free, he prefers to give to his business. He is also resigning from politics.
He would keep doing anything, he says, that he can do for cricket because this is the game that has given him everything. “Whenever, Sri Lankan cricket wants me, in whatever capacity, I will help them to improve their game,” says Jayasuriya.