In 2016, as Roy Dias was putting together the nucleus of the Sri Lankan Under-19 side for the tour of England, he was looking beyond the numbers – the averages and strike rates.
He was looking for the x factor. He was looking for fast bowlers who could upset the rhythm of a batter with a nasty bouncer or someone who could move the ball after the ball had lost its shine, or a batter who took risks more than he should do.
It turned out to be a remarkable tour as Sri Lanka triumphed in both the Tests and ODIs. The individuals that Roy had picked were quite impressive. There were future stars like Wanindu Hasaranga, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara just to name a few. Roy wasn’t just a skills coach. He is someone who looks beyond the talent but rarely gets the dues that he so richly deserves.
Of that lot, Lahiru Kumara was the first to make his Test debut, aged 19. Across all three formats, it is Test match cricket that Lahiru has been a regular in. His numbers in fact are identical having represented Sri Lanka in 26 Tests, 26 ODIs and 26 T20Is.
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But you wonder whether you should persevere with Lahiru Kumara in Test cricket any longer? It has been highly frustrating to see him breaking down halfway through a game literally every single year since 2019 with the latest fiasco being during the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
If you analyze Lahiru’s injuries, most of them have happened in the middle of a Test match – 2019 Gabba, 2020 Centurion, 2021 Pallekele and 2022 Mohali. Maybe it’s time for us to use him just in T20s for the time being until we are absolutely sure that he can stand the rigours of Test match cricket,
The problem is that when Kumara bowls as well as he did at RPS this week, the selectors are tempted to pick him for every game.
The clash between Galle Titans and Colombo Strikers had a lot at stake. The winners were going for the playoffs while the losers were going home. Kumara with his raw pace scattered the stumps of the in form Pathum Nissanka and then knocked over Babar Azam, Pakistan captain and world’s number three ranked batter. Colombo never recovered and were buried.
South African Chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi had got all the accolades for his four-wicket haul, but if Kumara hadn’t exposed the middle order so early, it is unlikely that Galle would have finished second in the points table to everyone’s surprise.
Pace is what Kumara always had. But what has happened in recent months is that he has added bit of discipline into that pace as well bowling impeccable lines and lengths.
So, the message for the selectors is that they have got to bite the bullet and let go of Kumara. They should resist moves to play him for the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka have good fast bowling stocks for the ODI outfit in the form of Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka and Kasun Rajitha. There’s Binura Fernando and Pramod Madushan as back up if they want. Let Kumara solely feature in T20 cricket for the time being until he builds up his fitness and maybe World Cup is an occasion where we can afford a few liberties.
This Kumara is a bit of a tough nut. It was at hockey that he excelled at Sri Sumangala in the early days. A blow to the head from a hockey stick during a game saw him spend a few painful nights at the Kandy General Hospital with a few stitches. His mother urged him to give up the sport, but Kumara was adamant to continue with his love.
The mum then went home and burnt up his hockey stick sending his hockey ambitions in ashes. He was a late developer into cricket. Then that excellent talent spotter Sampath Perera saw him and offered him a scholarship to Trinity College. The rest is history.
So many of our skillful fast bowlers never fully realized their potential be it Ravindra Pushpakumara, Nuwan Zoysa, Dhammika Prasad or Chameera. All have been prone to injuries.
Kumara’s injuries have been quite unique in the sense that each of them had happened during a game and in the lower body, mostly his hamstring. SLC’s very capable medical staff need to study his case and come up with remedies that ensure that Kumara is preserved and that we get the best out of him. The nation can not simply lose yet another fast bowler to injury.
When fully fit, Kumara will do wonders and will knock off the stumps of lot of batters.
