In life, People shine at their own pace. Some reach the top at 18 while some take time, reaches there at 40and a few even older at 70. The peak point of our life always varied and this is the first thing I learnt from the career of Rangana Herath.
He debuted in 1999. The 21 years old Herath was a sidekick to Muralitharan, the spinner who tops all possible list. Herath was a mere second preferred bowler.
He took six wickets in two drawn Tests and didn’t play again for nine months before going wicket-less against Pakistan (for the only time in his career against that opposition).
The penalty for that display was almost four years out of the Test, and so it went for much of the rest of the decade; called upon only when Sri Lanka required two or three spinners, but rarely considered a permanent member of the team. He lived in the shadows of Muralitharan for years and nobody literally knew him.
Herath had to wait for his opportunity. He had to shift between jobs for money. When Muralitharan retired, the whole world mourned, but Herath saw the opportunity. He wanted to grab it before anyone else, and the 32-year-old grabbed it.
For most cricketers, 32 years is a tricky age. That’s the age where the players start to slow down, but in the case of Herath, things just got started.
From then on, he worked hard to pick up wickets, became the major part of the team. For like eight years after the retirement of Muralitharan, Herath dominated the batsmen like no other left-arm bowler.
433 Test wickets to his name, most by a left-arm bowler, in fact, no other left-arm spinner has 400 wickets. Also, he picked up 233 wickets after turning 35 which is the most by any bowler. With a few more records and milestone, Rangana Herath will leave a huge void in the – already broken- Sri Lankan line-up.
For a team that is yet to recover from the retirement of Sanga and Jayawardana, his retirement obvious will push the team down the rock bottom.
Thank you, Rangayya!
We will miss you. You are a legend who deserved more. We should’ve celebrated you as much as we do for other legends. Given the fact that everyone turned up for your farewell, it shows how great you got to be. You never involved in any of the rift, stood there as a role model, a leader for the younger generation. Thank you for everything. We love you!
