Charith Asalanka faced the media for the first time since being stripped of Sri Lanka’s T20 captaincy and there was no bitterness in his tone. Instead, he sounded like a man choosing to play with a straight bat, pragmatic, reflective and determined not to let emotions drag him into more trouble after a bruising few weeks.

Asalanka has long been earmarked for leadership. Groomed for the role for more than a decade, he cut his teeth at Richmond College, Galle, winning multiple titles alongside a cohort that included Wanindu Hasaranga, Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya Lakshan. He was the obvious choice to captain Sri Lanka Under-19s and repaid that faith handsomely, steering the side to a series victory in England. Coached then by former great Roy Dias, Asalanka was marked out early as a special talent with an old head on young shoulders.

When he graduated to the senior side, the signs were clear, this was a captain-in-waiting. He did little to disappoint his backers. Under his watch, Sri Lanka ticked off important ODI series wins over Australia and India, arresting a worrying slide in the 50-over format. T20 cricket, however, proved a trickier pitch. Progress there was slow and the Asia Cup became his stumbling block. Questionable bowling changes, coupled with perceptions that he didn’t fully trust his bench, led to murmurs of clique-building, a charge that stuck.

Matters came to a head in Pakistan when players, despite security assurances from both boards, revolted and demanded an early return home. Asalanka was widely believed to be the ring-leader, summoned back and relieved of the captaincy. There is little doubt he had begun to look a touch too big for his boots. But cricket, like life, rarely deals in absolutes; there is no sinner without a past and no saint without a future.

Having paid his dues, Asalanka now deserves clarity and backing to move forward at least as the leader of the ODI side. He has continued to deliver with the bat, scripting several come-from-behind victories. It is the calmness he brings to nerve-jangling run chases that sets him apart, ice in the veins, eyes firmly on the prize. He remains Sri Lanka’s sole representative in the ICC’s top ten ODI batters, a testament to his consistency and temperament.

If Asalanka can recalibrate his leadership, steering the team by destiny rather than chasing cheap popularity, Sri Lanka may yet reap rich dividends in the years ahead. In cricket, as ever, the long game matters most.

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Kusal Mendis played the sheet-anchor with a surgeon’s touch as Sri Lanka posted a competitive 271 for six after opting to bat first in the opening ODI against England at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium on Thursday.

The wicketkeeper batter was left stranded on 93, but his knock proved the glue that held Sri Lanka’s innings together after the top order wobbled against England’s spin.

At 124 for four, with leg-spinners Rehan Ahmed and Adil Rashid asking probing questions, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel. Mendis counterpunched with nimble footwork and soft hands, milking the wrist-spin for singles and punishing anything remotely loose.

Mendis battled cramps midway through his innings but refused to throw in the towel, adding a vital 88 run stand for the fifth wicket with Janith Liyanage off 98 balls to steer the innings back on course.

Liyanage, very consistent in the lower middle order since his debut two years ago, looked set to cash in before Rashid struck on his return, inducing a return catch. His 46 came from 53 deliveries, laced with five fours and two sixes.

Mendis was on 92 heading into the final over, but the strike stayed away from him as Dunith Wellalage hogged the limelight. Sri Lanka were hardly complaining as the last over from Jamie Overton disappeared for 23 runs, Wellalage launching three fours and a six in a blistering cameo of 25 not out from 12 balls.

England leaned heavily on spin, sending down 33 overs through Rashid, Ahmed, Liam Dawson and Jacob Bethell, the second-most overs bowled by their spinners in an ODI, behind the 36 delivered in Sharjah against Pakistan in 1985.

Rashid was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of three for 44 from his ten overs.

Following a difficult Ashes tour, what is left of Bazball ran into an old-fashioned spin-bowling choke in Colombo. There were glimmers of brilliance from England in a chase of 272. But four Sri Lanka spinners, sharing six wickets between them, won through comfortably in the end.

Despite measured 60s from both Joe Root and Ben Duckett, England fell 19 runs short, their run rate having stayed below five an over for the majority of the run-chase. And so England, who had made attacking batting their brand for several years now, delivered the kind of insipid batting performance reminiscent of their woes in South Asia in decades gone by.

The likes of Dunit Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay would prosper on a dry Khettarama track, but it was Sri Lanka’s sensible batting that had laid the groundwork for this victory. Kusal Mendis’  93 not out off 117 was the backbone of the innings, with Janith Liyanage punching out a helpful 46, and Wellalage producing the finishing fillip, hitting 25 not out off 12 balls.

Their 271 for 6 was merely a good total, rather than an imposing one. But then Khettarama is a notoriously difficult venue at which to chase. Though Jamie Overton’s late hitting gave England a sliver of hope, Sri Lanka had the match mostly trussed up at 40 overs, England needing to score at more than 10 an over at that stage, with four wickets in hand.

Overton could still potentially have stolen victory in the final over, off which England needed 20. But he turned down a single first ball, and then holed out trying to clear the infield off the next one.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 271 for 6 in 50 overs (Kusal Mendis 93*, Janith Liyanage 46; Adil Rashid 3-44) beat England 252 in 49.2 overs  (Ben Duckett 62, Joe Root 61, Jamie Overton 34; Pramod  Madushan 3-39, Dunith Wellalage 2-41, Jeffrey Vandersay 2-39 ) by 19 runs

[Cricinfo]