A Left-Arm Spinner With Pedigree: Rangana Herath
Rangana Herath is an unsung left-arm bowler of the Sri Lankan cricket team. The 32-year old cricketer made his entry into the Sri Lankan Test team in 1999 in a game against Australia. He surprised the Australian team by his so called “mystery” ball which darted the other way.
However, despite some of the very decent early performances, Herath was rather unpopular amongst Sri Lankan selectors. The slow left-arm orthodox bowler faced a stiff competition for selection due to the presence of the phenomenal spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the team.
After his spectacular debut performance in the series against Australia, Herath was always on the sidelines of the side, as Muralitharan kept up his strong showing. Even as the side needed a second spinner, the slot went to Malinga Bandara first, and then to Ajantha Mendis. Nonetheless, he continued to play for A team until he was again given a place in the playing squad for a series against Pakistan in 2004-05. Herath left his mark by picking up eleven wickets in two matches.
However, after the series against Pakistan, Herath was surprisingly not included in the team for three long years. When he finally got a chance in a series against West Indies and Bangladesh, he failed to make a significant contribution.
In the meantime, he played for Staffordshire League in England to brush up his bowling as there were very few matches for the Sri Lankan A team.
Herath’s career revived in the year 2009, when he was included in the Sri Lankan squad against Pakistan. He was in a superb form in the series and grabbed 15 wickets in three Test matches. Later that year, he propped up the Sri Lankan bowling attack by picking up eight wickets in a Test match against New Zealand.
Herath attributed this revival of form to his experience and change in mindset. He said that as a youngster, he played under pressure to ensure a place in the team. But as he matured, he adopted a more confident and relaxed approach towards the game leading to his success.
Following some promising performances, he was included in the Sri Lankan team for a Test series against India in 2009. Herath continued his good form in India, picking up 11 wickets in three matches, including a five wicket haul.
In the first Test match against India in Galle, while Lasith Malinga and Muralitharan ignited the Sri Lankan bowling, Herath made his presence felt by playing a not-out innings of eighty runs. He batted aggressively playing some fine shots which were well beyond the capabilities of a lower order batsmen.
Herath expressed delight on his batting performance and said that he was working with the coaching staff to improve his batting. But in the second Test match against India, Herath was replaced by youngster Suraj Randiv. The inclusion of Randiv in the team shows that Sri Lanka has already started looking for a younger replacement of Muralitharan in the team. Unfortunately for Herath, Randiv has had a reasonably impressive initiation to Test cricket.
Apart from this, Herath was also a part of the Wayamba side in the domestic cricket and went on to play in the Champions League T20 in 2009 in India. He did not feature in the first game, which was a surprise given his prior performances. Wayamba rectified this mistake for the second game.
Wayamba has qualified for the Champions League T20 of 2010 as well, and the tournament will be played in South Africa. South African pitches have helped left arm spinners in the past and that should make it interesting for Herath.