The Fire That Burned Itself

Kaluwitharana: A Story of What Could Have Been
First published on, 
Cricket-Online: The fire that burned itself  
November 10, 2004

Romesh Kaluwitharana or "Little Kalu" as he is affectionately known to many has decided its time to hang up his boots. After being axed from the initial squad for the tour of New Zealand, Kalu has decided that enough is enough. The popular image that the media has created of the "little man" is based on many misconceptions. At the end of what has been what some would call a patchy career and what I would describe as a desert sprinkled with little oases, its time to set the record straight.

Disappointments continued

No one can ever have doubts as to the wealth of talent that exists inside the little man. It was always a case of whether the rope was long enough to reach into this deep well. As a result, the world very rarely got a taste of what he had to offer. Little was known about the small made figure that made his way to the centre of the SCC grounds in 1992 when Sri Lanka was well poised against the Aussies on 367 for five. If the Aussies hoped to intimidate the 21 year old debutant and dispose of the Sri Lankan middle order with out breaking a sweat, then those hopes were shattered as quickly as the boundaries that flew off the bat of Kaluwitharana. The little man unleashed a volley of scorching boundaries, without sparing any of the Aussies bowlers. The crowd watched mesmerized, as boundaries hit the fences all round the park with a force that seemed disproportional to the size of the man. At the end of the innings, Kalu had compiled 132 (not out) of 158 deliveries with an amazing 26 boundaries. During the innings, the whole world was sure that they were witnessing the birth of a superstar. However, after such an unbelievable baptism into Test cricket, what followed was a career of frustrations and disappointments.

Kalu’s test average began to plummet downwards like an airplane at the mercy of gravity. Over the years Kalu only managed to muster two more Test centuries in a career spanning 49 matches (78 innings). At the end of the day he could only cling on to a meagre average of 26.12 scoring only two half centuries in his last 37 innings. Even his one-day international record remains in a deplorable state, having never got off the ground after the string of failures during the formative stage of his career. With an average of 22.22, Kalu can boast of only two centuries, out of which one was against Kenya.

Many consider Kalu’s exploits in the 1996 World Cup to be the high point of his career. However, this is yet another misconception that surrounds the player. During the world cup, Kalu played in six matches (six innings) scoring a total of 73 runs at an average of 12.16. His highest scores were 33, 26, and 8 with two ducks. Much of the image that was created, during the World Cup by commentators such as Tony Greig, is simply hype based on the player’s likable personality, when in fact most of the credit should have gone to Aravinda de Silva. While the whole commentary box raved about the blistering starts given by the combination of Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana, the actual execution occurred only on a couple of occasions during the World Cup.

When Kalu’s name is brought up, what immediately springs to mind is the blistering pace at which he scores his runs. Unfortunately, this too is part of the inflated image rather than actual fact. Kalu’s one day international career strike rate is 77.70, which being perfectly acceptable, is far from exceptional. The other fact that many claim is that Kalu has a much higher average when he opens the batting, rather than the paltry overall average of 22.22. Although this is technically correct, it’s hardly worth raving about as he only averages 26.14 as an opener.

 The last four to five years in the team have been a procession of in and outs for Kalu. One can hardly lay blame on the selectors for acting in such a way. If any thing, the selectors have been amazingly patient with Kalu at the expense of promising young talent. Kalu can be best described as a stubborn man set in his own ways. This unwillingness to change his approach was clearly epitomized in the way he handled Danish Kaneria during his last Test series. After aggressively dancing down the wicket and playing a faulty stroke after failing to get to  the pitch of the ball and giving a return catch to Kaneria in the first innings, he perished in a similar way in the second innings, this time giving a catch to mid off. When what the team required of him was to simply occupy the crease and give support to Jayasuriya, it was the stubborn impulse to get the better of the bowler that came through. As we know from experience, things that do not adjust according to situations perish rather quickly. Hence, at the end of the day, the greatest lesson we can learn from Kalu’s career is that natural talent is only one ingredient when it comes to the creation of a great cricketer.