by Rex Clementine

Of all Jesus’ disciples, Peter is the most famous one. Peter was there at every sermon, at every miracle Jesus performed and even cut off an ear of a guard when Jesus was about to be arrested. But, Peter was  not Jesus’ favourite disciple. The favourite disciple of Jesus was John. Like Jesus, every leader had his favourite disciple. Some of our political leaders had Mervyn Silva while some other leaders had Sagala Ratnayake. Cricketer Dilruwan Perera was one such having been coaches’ favourite disciple. He announced his retirement from international cricket yesterday.

The national cricket team had many match winners since the big three retired in 2015. There was Dimuth Karunaratne, who was prolific overseas. Angelo Mathews was cut above the rest while Rangana Herath became the most successful left-arm bowler in the history of the game, pace or spin. But for Sri Lanka’s coaches from Graham Ford to Mickey Athur, their favourite was Dilruwan Perera.

Why is that the case you may wonder? That’s because Dilruwan did all the ‘dirty work’. If you needed a bowler to hold one end up, Dilruwan was your man. If there was an end from which your star bowler didn’t want to bowl, Dilruwan would gladly accept the role. If you needed someone to step up as night-watchman when Wahab Riaz was reverse swinging the ball to deadly effect, Dilruwan was your man. All the donkey’s work and thankless tasks were kept at the doorstep of Dilruwan and how well he performed them.

Dilruwan was a classical off-spinner. If you have no idea his impact on Sri Lankan cricket, be mindful that he was the nation’s fifth highest wicket taker in Test match cricket. The press often asked him why he didn’t try the doosra. His answer was curious. He used to say that it would be the end of his career if he tried the doosra. It could be taken in many contexts. One is that all his contemporaries who bowled the doosra chucked. Two is that ICC wanted to weed chucking out of cricket. Three is  that it is impossible to bowl the doosra without bending your arm. Dilruwan would never explain his theory. He made us to find out the answer. He was quite a cheeky bloke.

You also tend to get the feeling that here was a man who never fully realized his potential. Dilruwan scored 95 runs on his Test debut against Pakistan in 2014. He should have scored more than the seven half-centuries he ended up with in Test cricket. His Test average of 18 hardly does justice to the immense talent he possessed as a batsman.

Some famous names of Sri Lankan cricket have been opening partners of Sanath Jayasuriya. There’s Roshan Mahanama, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Marvan Atapattu. Dilruwana opened batting as well with Sanath in an ODI against Australia at MCG. Such was his potential.

Dilruwan’s best game with the ball was against the Aussies in 2016 in Galle when he claimed a match bag of ten wickets for 99. Well, he did claim another match bag of ten wickets for only 78 against South Africa two years later also in Galle, but any performance that helps you beat the Aussies is special.

Some problems Dilruwan never overcame. He claimed more wickets in Test match cricket off no balls than the number of gazettes that Mahindananda has revoked as Minister of Agriculture. His fielding remained horrendous and there have been some costly drops

It’s been more than a year since Dilruwan last played for Sri Lanka. The demand to finish the kilometer run in less than eight minutes and 35 seconds was a killer blow for a 39-year-old. But to his credit, Dilruwan didn’t throw in the towel as soon as the time limit was set in place. He tried. He’s leaving the game having given some fine memories. But the question will always be asked could he have done more? He surely could have.