Sri Lanka’s cricketers turned up for the must win clash early this week in Pakistan looking as bruised as a tail-ender facing a new-ball spell under grey skies. Five defeats on the bounce had scribbled them out of every bookmaker’s notebook. Yet, in the tail end of this tri-nation series, they have staged a remarkable turnaround — sneaking into the final with the poise of a side finally remembering its lines. With the World Cup looming, they appear to have several boxes ticked and some long-lost rhythm humming again.

Word from Maitland Place is that Sri Lanka will host Pakistan for a three-match T20 series in Dambulla in January, before England arrive for a home bilateral — all ahead of the avalanche of overseas supporters expected in Colombo during the World Cup.

There was a time when the nation’s cricketing fate rested almost entirely on the shoulders of one man — Aravinda de Silva. Two decades on, Pathum Nissanka has quietly slipped into that exalted role. He was unusually muted early in the Pakistan tour, but the moment he struck form, Sri Lanka’s fortunes swung back like a well-oiled machine. He has surged to number three in the ICC rankings and on current trajectory he looks poised to become Sri Lanka’s first world No. 1 batter since Kumar Sangakkara. Aravinda and Sanga, those are heavy boots indeed, yet Nissanka seems to stroll in them with enviable ease.

For Sri Lanka, the emergence of Kamil Mishara was another welcome tick on the to-do list. His career-best 76, scored at a strike rate north of 150, injected both momentum and intent — qualities Sri Lanka have too often lacked with batters lingering in the 130s. Mishara’s arrival is a step in the right direction.

Still, the Man of the Match award deservedly went to Dushmantha Chameera. His new-ball spell in the Power Play was a masterclass: three early wickets, seam kissing the pitch and pace rattling helmets. Entrusted with defending ten runs off the final over, he delivered with the cold nerve of a veteran closer. Since his 2015 debut, Chameera’s raw pace and elegant action have made him indispensable — only injuries have played the villain.

This brief joy arrives amid a bleak week for the nation — a cyclone, floods, halted transport, shuttered schools and a country stalled. In the middle of that storm, the cricket team handed the public a rare smile. A small mercy, but a meaningful one.

It must also be acknowledged that the national team has made significant strides over the past 18 months. Not everything is rosy — the dressing room isn’t entirely tickety-boo — but progress is undeniable. Which made this month’s flirtation with the self-destruct button all the more disappointing with a World Cup less than 100 days away.

Everyone involved in the sport would do well to remember that cricket is bigger than any personality. Differences of opinion are normal; disagreements are inevitable. But all roads must ultimately lead toward the game’s betterment.

Sanity should return. Charith Asalanka should return as captain too. Sri Lanka have invested a year and a half building around him; abandoning that now doesn’t make sense. True, he appeared like a runaway horse whom no one had control over. But let’s look at the bigger picture which is the World Cup. Let’s hope Asalanka has learned his lessons.

History, too, offers a caution to us all. Napoleon — buoyed by victories — convinced himself he could not be beaten. Then he picked the wrong battle, marched 600,000 troops into Moscow, and discovered that winter respects neither uniforms nor swollen egos. His army dissolved into the frost. A frozen reminder that nobody, in war or cricket, is bigger than the campaign.

by Rex Clementine