Sanath Jayasuriya was India's ultimate nightmare in ODIs in the middle of the 90s and his exploits at the top helped Sri Lanka dominate the Indian cricket team in that era.
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Sri Lankan cricket was in the ascendancy in the middle period of the 90s. There were three prime reasons. Arjuna Ranatunga’s in-your-face aggressive captaincy was main reason. The class of Aravinda de Silva was simply magnificent. But, it was the power-hitting prowess of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana that transformed the Sri Lanka batting to a different level. Power-hitting at the top was revolutionized by New Zealand’s Mark Greatbatch in the 1992 World Cup. But, Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana ensured that power-hitting would remain a constant in this era.
Jayasuriya had already shown his brilliance in the 1995/96 Carlton and United tri-series. Although Kaluwitharana stole the show with some attacking knocks, Jayasuriya gave a glimpse of the world of his prowess. In the 1996 World Cup, he decimated India with a brilliant 79 in Delhi that ended the career of Manoj Prabhakar, India’s key all-rounder at that time. His onslaught in the quarterfinal against England in Faisalabad sealed the deal for Sri Lanka as they went on to win the 1996 World Cup.
However, Jayasuriya would establish a magnificent relationship with the Indian cricket team. All their bowlers would be taken to the cleaners for the next couple of years. Venkatesh Prasad, Javagal Srinath and other Indian bowlers would face the wrath of Jayasuriya.
The scything cut over point. The flick over square leg. The pull over midwicket. The steers to third man and the glance to fine leg. These were the arsenals in Sanath Jayasuriya’s armory in his decimation of India’s bowlers. On May 17, 1997, during the Pepsi Cup match against India at the Wankhede stadium, his brilliance would be on show.
On a slow pitch, India struggled their way to 225/7. Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh helped India recover after Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar fell cheaply. In response, Sri Lanka lost Kaluwitharana cheaply. But, Jayasuriya stepped up and played a knock for the ages.
Jayasuriya got a measure of the Mumbai pitch and took the attack to the bowlers. He blasted two sixes and a four in one over off Prasad and singled out Abey Kuruvilla for punishment. When the spinners came on, Jayasuriya would not slow down. He hit Sunil Joshi for three sixes and he went past his century. As the match progressed, Jayasuriya suffered cramps but he hung in and registered the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan player in ODIs at that time.
The knock was significant because no other Sri Lankan player crossed 38. Even for India, the highest was 72. Jayasuriya more than doubled up the score as Sri Lanka went on to achieve success.
Prior to the Mumbai masterclass, Jayasuriya had smashed a magnificent 120 off 128 balls at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo in 1996. In that 1997 series, he smashed four consecutive fifties before a rather lean run. In 1999, Jayasuriya had scores of 61, 71 and 105 in the Asia Cup in Dhaka. But, his best came in the 2000 match in Sharjah.
In another exhibition of brilliance, Jayasuriya toyed with the bowling and hammered the Indian attack to all parts. Prasad, Joshi, Srinath and Kumble all bore the brunt of his destructive willow. Jayasuriya broke records and he was a couple of hits away from becoming the first batsman to hit a double ton in ODIs.
However, on 189, Jayasuriya was stumped and the disappointment was evident. It was not as if Jayasuriya hurt India only in ODIs. In 1997, the Matara mauler blasted Sri Lanka’s first triple century when he hit 340 in a record Test against India. Jayasuriya’s 340 and his record 576-run stand with Roshan Mahanama helped Sri Lanka reach 952/6.
Jayasuriya would be India’s nightmare for the next eight years, hitting a century in 2008 in Karachi when he was almost close to 40. In 89 ODIs against India, Jayasuriya hit 2899 runs with seven centuries. He had an average of 36 and a strike-rate of close to 97 at that time. Safe to say, Jayasuriya was India’s worst nightmare.
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