Mumbai: “Since the time I started in 1999, my thinking hasn’t changed. I still enjoy every ball. I am the same person,” he says. A decade-and-a half rolled over – Robert Mugabe revamped (ruined) the chic Zimbabwe cricket team and Indian selectors no more threw the skipper’s hat to Mohammad Azharuddin. Kumar Sangakkara arrived (in 2000) and went (2015) but he is static. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s presence in world cricket has been stable if not consistent.
He perfectly fits the line uttered by a William Shakespeare character: “I am constant as the northern star, of whose true-fix’d and resting quality; There s no fellow in the firmament.”
Few could be as eccentric as the man from Kalutara. The tinted hair and meandering beard endorses a brand guarded by a helmet for 17 years in international cricket. The man who invented Dilscoop – the ramp shot played off a good length delivery being on one knee to scoop it behind the wicketkeeper – is one of the erudite in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20.
“I love fashion experiments,” he says at 39.
“My wife loves my hair colour and style. I am having this beard since 2009,” he chuckles.
Yes, he is the same character who once slammed 193 against England at Lord’s.
Dilshan is 87 Tests, 327 One Day Internationals and 74 Twenty20 Internationals old. What keeps him going when most of his contemporaries are calling it a day?
“Love for the game,” as simple as that.
India pacer Ashish Nehra is one exception in this crate. The 36-year-old – another 1999 debutant – is one of the scholars who made a comeback in the university run by the Boults and Steyns. However, his training process is different; he doesn’t even play soccer with the team to avoid injuries. But Dilshan does it all.
“I love playing football with the youngsters. At the moment, I am working out in the gym a bit more to strengthen my muscles, I never did that earlier. Otherwise, I am still making runs and I am the same person I was 10 years back,” he confirms.
IPL – friendship with Viru
His free spirit and pulp fiction-like cricket earned him a friend in India – Virender Sehwag. The former man in blue and Dilshan struck a chord from Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008.
“Viru and I are still close friends. The families are good friends too. They are very friendly people. This time I have a chance to go and meet him in Delhi,” says Dilshan about his opening partner from Delhi Daredevils.
The Sri Lankan believes the swashbuckling batsman went too early.
“He is one of the best ever from India. Viru can change the game in one over. One of the greatest players and best opening partners I had. I think he could still play T20 cricket. You will not feel any pressure if you open the batting with him,” Dilshan could not stop praising the Nawab of Nafajgarh.
He also explains why IPL is a stepping stone for all cricketers.
“You share the dressing room with different nationalities, youngsters can observe the experienced players’ work ethics. When I started, Australian pace great Glenn McGrath was a part of the side,” he says, adding: “It benefits the cricketers financially as well. They can only focus on cricket and not bother about anything else.”
Dilscoop
The all-rounder first tested the shot during IPL in 2009 against Deccan Chargers. The initial ploy to upset wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist in order to go down the track turned out to be a gem. He’d played the shot to shoo Gilchrist away from stumps so that he could step out to bowlers.
Dilshan grasped the shot after few knocks with the tennis ball. He also didn’t spare Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc from the scoop menace last year Down Under.
Will he still play the shot in the ongoing tournament?
“Yes, why not? I am confident. That is one shot which can make the bowlers think twice,” he warns.
He also revealed that his son is an expert at the shot now.
“They don’t need to see the video anymore, my son is playing Dilscoop better than me,” he smiles.
Taking a cue out of Dilshan’s acrobatic, many cricketers started playing innovative shots but few could perfect the scoop; only Brendon McCullum came close.
“Many cricketers asked me how to play the scoop shot. I cannot name them since they are international cricketers but they did ask me for tips,” reveals the seasoned campaigner.
Being an impact player
Dilshan is a game-changer and his decision to open the batting turned gold for Sri Lanka. He has had several opening partners, the recent being Dinesh Chandimal.
“For six-seven months, I batted with different openers. It didn’t affect me much but each player is different. Some like to chat in the middle, some do not like to talk at all. But I think I had a good partnership with Chandi so far. We tasted success in Asia Cup and he is doing well,” says Dilshan about the young Sri Lankan prospect.
The current Sri Lankan crop isn’t as vanilla as the Sangakkara-Mahela Jayawardene period but the veteran believes guidance can help the team scale greater heights.
Dilshan doesn’t don the whites anymore but is a vital cog in the Lankan machine in limited-over cricket. At a time when Lasith Malinga stepped down as T20 skipper and Angelo Mathews suddenly has an world class assignment, this old man’s magic wand (bat) could be a relief for the Islanders in the World Cup.
Career highlights
T20 performance of the year at ICC awards for his 96 off 57 balls against West Indies in the semi-final of ICC World Twenty20 in England (2009)
Man of the Series in ICC World Twenty20 in England (2009)
Highest run-scorer in ICC World Cup 2011: 500 runs in nine ODIs
Highest score by a Sri Lankan in 50-over World Cup: 161 against Bangladesh in 2015
ODIs: 327 Runs: 10,216 Highest score: 161* 100s: 22 50s: 47 Average: 39.44 Wickets: 106
T20s: 74 Runs: 1,751 Highest score: 104* 100s: 1 50s: 12 Average: 28.24 Wickets: 7
Tests: 87 Runs: 5,492 Highest score: 193 100s: 16 50s: 23 Average: 40.98 Wickets: 39
