The fielders glance at the sky. Spectators snap their fingers.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
****
You step away from the cricket and take a walk.
Flowers drift with the breeze, river streams glisten. Even inside, you can hear each droplet of water as you wash the dishes, the TV humming softly in the background.
Back on the field, applause drifts across the stands. Commentators fill the silence. You begin to notice the shades of grass, the cracks on the pitch, the shape of the umpire’s hat.
Hours pass. The sun begins to set.
Friends catch up over a beer, rivals turn partners, families reunite.
The bowlers are still running in. And Cheteshwar Pujara is still there.
Block. A single. A couple of runs. A four down the ground. Block again.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
****
Cheteshwar Pujara could make you feel time and cricket in its purest form.
The crisp sound of his defensive stroke striking the middle of the willow had a beauty of its own.
You might not be glued to your screens for every ball, but you knew: as long as he was there, Team India was safe.
That safety net is now gone. Pujara has officially retired. In his own words, “All good things must come to an end.”
I vividly recall Pujara’s debut in 2010. In a tense second-innings chase of 207, he was sent in at #3 while Rahul Dravid was dropped down the order.
Pujara scored 72 (129) at a strike rate of 80.89. In that moment, I thought to myself, India had found an absolute gem.
At the same time, it felt like the beginning of the end for Rahul Dravid, my favorite player growing up (Here is the first article I ever wrote, What Rahul Dravid Taught Me).
The passing of the torch was happening in real time.
The Dawn of the Pujara Decade
Later that year in South Africa, Pujara struggled against the pace and bounce. However, after the horrors of 0-8 in 2011 and the retirements of Laxman and Dravid, he roared back into the side in 2012.
Between August 2012 and March 2013, Pujara score 159, 206*, 135, and 204 against New Zealand, England, and Australia, cementing his place in the team for a decade to come.
He continued delivering memorable knocks over the next four years: 153 at Johannesburg, carrying in bat with a 145* in Colombo, 202 at Ranchi, and a string of hundreds against Sri Lanka in 2017.
By the end of 2017, the 29-year old Pujara had played 53 Tests, averaging 53.38.
Pujara’s Annus Mirabilis – Australia’s Nightmare, His Masterpiece
In 1905, Albert Einstein published papers on photoelectric effect, special relativity, Brownian motion, and e=mc^2, all in a single year. Such a feat is called a scientists’ Annus Mirabilisor “miracle year.”
Sir Isaac Newton had his miracle year in 1665-1666 (calculus, laws of motion, gravity). Marie Curie discovered polonium and radium in 1898, Ramanujan revolutionized partitions and prime numbers in 1919-20, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps dominated 2008, and Sachin Tendulkar owned 1998.
For Cheteshwar Pujara, it was the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar series.
Australia is notoriously a graveyard for visiting sides, especially Asian teams. India came close in 2003-04 with a 1-1 draw, but a series win remained elusive.
Against Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, and Lyon in their prime, Pujara’s performances were nothing short of heroic: From 3/19, Pujara’s 123 at Adelaide revived India, followed it up with a 71 (204) in the second innings, a Boxing day century at the MCG, and a 193-run epic in Sydney.
After facing 1258 balls, scoring 521 runs with 3 centuries, he deservedly won the Player of the Series award in India’s historic 2-1 victory.
Pujara carried India on his shoulders in that series, cementing his place in the pantheon of legends in Indian cricket.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21: The Series That Defined Grit
The next tour was not as prolific for Pujara, but he was every bit as instrumental.
He would score 271 runs off 928 balls. No hundreds, and three of his own slowest fifties. Yet he hung in there, took the body blows, and helped India edge to a 2-1 victory once again, coming back from 36/9.
An unlikely triumph, one of the most memorable in recent history.
The 2023 WTC Final, where India lost its second consecutive title, would be his last Test. In the final four years, Pujara averaged 20.37, 28.08, 45.44, and 25.85, dropping his career average from a peak of 67.63 (after 16 Tests) to 43.6.
Pujara-Kohli-Rahane were meant to succeed Dravid-Tendulkar-Laxman. They all had their moments, a few prolific years, but it ended far too soon.
Rahane did not make it to 100 Tests, and Kohli fell 770 runs short of the 10K club. While Pujara crossed the 100-Test milestone, played 13 years, and scored 7195 runs, he faced 15,041 fewer balls than Dravid.
But numbers tell only part of the story. He batted in an era of challenging pitches where top-order batters struggled worldwide. Yet, he conquered the mighty Australians, not once, but twice.
Rahul Dravid’s ESPNCricinfo profile begins with “Rahul Dravid was probably one of the last classical Test match batters.”
He was a rare breed but was not alone: Chanderpaul, Younis Khan, Graeme Smith, Sangakkara stood alongside him. Later came Cook, Trott, Elgar, Azhar Ali, and yes, Pujara.
Although Root and Williamson carry on the tradition of Test match batting, their style blends the old with the modern.
But with Pujara’s retirement, it feels like the cricket world has truly witnessed the last of the classical Test batters.
The end of an era.
What Cheteshwar Pujara Taught Me
We live in a world of Reels and TikToks, where watching a 15-second clip seems too long, a 45-minute class boring, and a five-year career? Unfathomable.
In a world of instant gratification, Pujara reminds me that old-school values still matter.
Resilience. Patience. Grit. These words immediately spring to mind when you think of Pujara. His relationship with time was beyond imagination. The ability to have a long-term vision, while making every moment count.
What Will I Remember the Most?
Apart from the Australia series and the partnerships, I will remember Pujara’s cut shots, and movement against spin. Speaking of spin, a word on Nathan Lyon.
Nathan Lyon vs Pujara was one of our generation’s greatest contests. One of the finest off-spinners of all-time tried every trick, and all Pujara does is dance down the wicket, and pad him away. Something I will never forget.
I highly recommend watching the first season of The Ashes. The Australians saw so much of Pujara that he broke them mentally and physically. I will leave you with some quotes from that web series:
“Pujara, to a younger generation, is almost a curiosity. As the game moves more and more towards T20, the savior of our game, the word ‘resilience’ starts to go out, because there is no time for resilience.”
– Harsha Bhogle
“Pujara is old school, he’s a classic Test match batsman.”
Mathematician. Quizzer. History buff. Computer Scientist. CEO. Director. Storyteller. Writer. Public Speaker. Sports Administrator. Tanks of World War II. Cricket, football, volleyball. What connects all these seemingly unrelated worlds?
Just one individual: Joy Bhattacharjya.
When I first started watching Cricbuzz Live seven years ago, Joy immediately caught my attention. I already knew Harsha Bhogle, the voice of Indian cricket, and Gaurav Kapur from his early IPL shows and Breakfast with Champions.
Joy was a new face to me. And yet, I found myself waiting for his segments— the anecdotes, insights, and of course, the Joy Factor questions.
As a mathematician trying to find my voice in cricket writing myself, I find Joy’s story inspiring. I wanted to understand how he made the leap and bridged connections between his different interests. Without further ado, let’s explore Joy’s journey together.
To understand how Joy became such a compelling storyteller, we have to look no further than his own home.
He grew up in a household where curiosity was the way of life. Both his parents were voracious readers. His sisters would go on to become educators, and his brother-in-law was a Rhodes Scholar. It was his father, an Army officer in the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, whose stories left the deepest impression, from accounts of the 1946 Calcutta riots to the memories of the 1965 war.
Surrounded by books, Joy found his spark in Children’s Britannica, and local contests during Saraswati and Durga Puja celebrations gave him his first taste of quizzing.
He believes that success is a “function of the number of books that you read,” where each book or idea is capable of pushing you “into a hundred rabbit holes.”
Before sports, stats, or television, there was just a boy who had an endless hunger to learn.
The Formative College Years and the Beginning of Quizzing
Joy studied mathematics during his undergraduate years at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, followed by a year of MSc, and a Master’s in Computer Applications.
In his Tedx Talk, he recalls a literal bridge on campus with humanities and pure sciences on one side, and engineering on the other. That bridge would become a metaphor for his career: connecting numbers with narrative, creativity with logic.
It was during college that Joy took quizzing to a national level, appearing on Quiz Time in 1988, India’s first inter-collegiate quiz show.
In the 1990s, he transitioned into a career in media. He worked as a producer across television, served as Head of Content for the quiz show, Mastermind India, and eventually became the Head of Production at ESPN Star Sports. There, he helped launch Super Selector in 2001, a precursor to Dream XI and India’s fantasy league boom.
Since then, he has worked with National Geographic and the History Channel, hosted the CricIQ on ESPNCricinfo, and continues to write a quiz column for the Times of India.
From Super Selector to Team Director of KKR
The IPL changed the careers of many—Brendon McCullum, Lalit Modi, and yes, Joy Bhattacharjya. In 2008, Joy became the Project Director of Kolkata Knight Riders.
His experience designing Super Selector, a gamethat let fans build custom teams from live international matches helped him pitch a similar, data-driven strategy to IPL teams for the inaugural auction. In the end, it was KKR that brought him on board. Think of it like cricket’s early Moneyball moment.
Because the IPL was still new, Joy had the freedom to define his role: Auction strategy, logistics, marketing, operations, essentially everything behind the scenes that helped the team succeed.
And boy, did they succeed. After a shaky, multi-captain start, KKR lifted the trophy in 2012 & 2014, a clear high point in Joy’s career.
These days, Joy often reflects on this chapter fondly during Cricbuzz Live, from the aura of Jacques Kallis and the bond between Balaji and Gambhir, to the unlikely friendship of Ricky Ponting and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, and the star power of Shah Rukh Khan and Ganguly.
What I enjoy the most is the banter, dry humor, the movie references, and the pure conversation between Joy, Harsha, and Gaurav. Cricket talk at its finest.
Building Indian Sports: FIFA U-17 and Prime Volleyball League
As the IPL mature, Joy Bhattacharjya’s skills were called upon elsewhere.
India was gearing up to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and Joy was appointed as the Project Director. Organizing a global tournament across six cities, adhering to FIFA’s detailed operations manual, even relocating matches out of Guhawati due to rain forecast, all while delivering the most attended U-17 World Cup in history with over 1.3 million spectators, was no small feat.
Since then, he has shifted focus to volleyball, becoming the CEO of Prime Volleyball League (formerly, the Professional Volleyball League). Under his leadership, the league has gained momentum, expanded at the college level, and invested in grassroots development.
Even before the IPL, Joy was involved in organizing Premier Hockey League (PHL). As his LinkedIn profile states, he is “passionate about building sport, not just cricket, in India.” In his own words, “Every federation of every sport want India.” Now, the onus is on India to become a welcoming sporting nation.
His recent podcasts like Market and Sports are particularly fascinating on the impact of the IPL and India’s bid for the 2036 Olympics.
But wait, there is more.
He has also an author having co-written Do Different: The Untold Dhoni and The Great Indian Cricket Circus. Off-camera, Joy continues to surprise. He has taken up functional resistance training and he even got a tattoo!
True to form, he keeps pushing boundaries, both in sport and in life.
In 1984, the late mathematician Vaughan Jones discovered the Jones Polynomial, a breakthrough that bridged knot theory and statistical mechanics. He later received the Fields Medal, mathematics’ highest honor, and his work continues to influence quantum physics and molecular biology.
In a similar vein, Joy followed a range of interests and connected them, one by one. Three decades later, we can reflect on the enormity of what he’s built and the far-reaching impact he continues to have. He explored, he connected, he built bridges.
Joy has taught me the value of staying open-minded by welcoming new ideas, exploring unfamiliar disciplines, and committing to a life of learning. And doing it all without ever sacrificing humor, curiosity, or ‘joy.’
In Bengali, ‘Da’ means elderly brother.
Over time, Joy Bhattacharjya became more than a name on a panel or the host of quiz show. He became Joy Da, an elder brother to India’s sporting fraternity, a figure of warmth, wisdom, and enduring curiosity.
I will leave you with this question:
Would you rather be a jack of all trades, master of one, or all of the above like Joy?
We knew the end was near. The runs had dried up. The spark wasn’t quite the same.
But he had just won the T20 World Cup in 2024 and looked fit as ever. We thought there was still time—one last tour, one final roar, a 2010 Tendulkar-esque year.
And then, just like that, it was over.
No farewell match. No final Test century.
Just the silence that follows the end of something important, the kind that lingers when you never got to say goodbye.
Those five days in Adelaide changed everything. Twin centuries and going for the win in the 2nd innings. Although that shot to Nathan Lyon still haunts me, that loss still felt like a win.
India was not afraid because Kohli was not afraid.
In Melbourne, Kohli and his partner in crime, Rahane, took Johnson on and shred him apart. They matched Australia’s pace attack blow for blow.
Remember, this is the same Mitchell Johnson that was at his peak in 2013, single-handedly dismantling England’s No. 1 Test team and striking fear in the eyes of South Africa’s batters.
For anybody that lived through the 0-8 horrors of 2011, this felt like a beginning of a new dawn for Indian Test cricket.
Kohli didn’t just play.
He fought. Believed. He risked it to see how far he and his team could go.
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
— Rumi
Over the years, Kohli did not just evolve as a cricketer, but grew as a human being.
He carried the weight of a nation. He changed his lifestyle and started a fitness revolution.
To help India win abroad, he nurtured a bowling attack that would become the envy of the world. He did more for Test cricket than the World Test Championship itself.
He began his career trying to prove his worth to everybody By the time he retired, he had become a father & a family, a wise leader, and a teammate others could count on.
I wanted him to score runs and wear his heart on his sleeve because he lived the way I sometimes wished I could. He was everything I never quite let myself be.
He taught me to never back down, keep pushing even when I didn’t feel like it. But most of all, he showed me what it means to give yourself completely to your craft.
You can question his antics. You can question his demeanor. But you can’t question his commitment. And that—that’s who I’d like to be.
Test cricket loses more than just a cricketer or batter today. It loses its soul, its most passionate son.
Goodbye, Virat. And thank you. For making us feel…well everything. Carrying Test cricket like it mattered more than anything else. Showing us what it looks like to care.
Kohli gave us joy. He entertained us.
Frustrated us, inspired us, and earned our respect. He even made us question his technique outside off.
He made us smile. And now, he’s making us cry.
Goodbye, Virat.
****
Thank you all for reading!
They were not quite their predecessors. But they were ours.
Pujara didn’t scale Dravid’s walls. Rahane couldn’t emulate Laxman’s miracles. Rohit didn’t dominate Test match opening like Sehwag once did. And Virat didn’t quite reach the mountain top Tendulkar stood on.
On the day when the cricketing world was consumed by the overhyped dullness known as the India-Pakistan non-rivalry, the retirement of legendary writer Ian Chappell almost went unnoticed.
Chappell, cricket’s voice of reason, officially retired from writing at the age of 81.
His final piece for ESPNCricinfowas titled, “The time has come to put down the pen and pack away the computer” and In theMid-Day, it was even more blunt, “That’s it folks, I’m done.”
Ian Chappell has called time on his journalistic career. After writing his first column in November 1973, his last piece appears in today’s @mid_day. Well played, Chappelli. pic.twitter.com/MsvgWE0QYO
For someone who had shaped so many of my views on cricket, it felt like an end of an era. Here is what Ian Chappell meant to me.
Carrying Cricket’s Moral Burden
Chappell wrote for nearly 50 years — writing tribute articles, analyzing batting techniques, recalling lovely cricket stories, reviewing World Cups and Test Series, and much more.
But what will I miss the most?
Without a doubt, I will miss his “Doom and Gloom” cricket articles. You can get a gist of these articles by the titles themselves:
It felt as if Chappell was carrying cricket’s burden on his own shoulders.
Throughout his career, he served as one of cricket’s two moral fulcrums, calling out administrators and shedding light on the game’s deeper issues. (The other one being, Michael Holding).
You may agree with his views, you may not. But what you cannot deny is that Chappell never shied away from using his voice.
He called it how he saw it and did not bow down to the tactics of regulation media.
How Ian Chappell’s Writing Style Influenced My Own Writing
As Mama Bear from Goldilocks would say, Chappell’s articles were never too long, nor too short, they were “just right.”
He did not fill his posts with flowery language or movie quotes. He got straight to the point.
I never realized that I admired Ian Chappell until I reflected upon my own style of writing.
Over the years, I have been drawn to Harsha Bhogle’s command of language, George Dobell’s simplicity, Andrew Fidel Fernando’s satirical ingenuity, Melinda Farrell’s insightful interviews, and Jarrod Kimber’s versatility in content creation.
Little did I realize, though, that Chappell’s approach had subtly influenced my own writing style and ideas. Here are a few examples:
Chappell did it all — radio, newspaper, TV, published books. To excel in one career in remarkable achievement. He did it in two. Don’t forget, he had earlier scored over 5,000 Test runs, 14 centuries, averaged 48.07 in the new ODI format, and enjoyed a nearly 20-year first-class career.
To build a legacy across separate careers spanning generations is a story that deserves accolades. His influence on Australian cricket and cricket media was second to none.
If cricket ends up collapsing in the future due to the Big 3 takeover, imbalance of formats, influx of T20 leagues, overkill of cricket, incompetence of the ICC, or corruption— All I can say is that Ian Chappell warned us.
I will leave y’all with this quote from Chappell’s final Cricinfo article:
“A justifiable part of writing is, it’s all your own work — it might be rubbish, but at least it’s your rubbish.”
Ian Chappell, ESPNCricinfo
It wasn’t rubbish at all, Ian. Each and every word was well worth it.
Thoughts and ideas live forever. Your legacy lives on. You have changed cricket for the better. What a spectacular journey it has been. Happy Retirement.
“The ICC is widely regarded as an event management company. They should add ‘and not a very good one.'”
“Creating a balance between the financial rewards of T20 and the need to full test players in longer contests in a big challenge. The question is, do the administrators have a duty of care to talented kids of the future so they have the opportunity to experience the thrill of Test cricket?“
“An international schedule that has lately flourished like a mushroom in the dark is now resembling a block of Jarlsberg cheese with its trademark holes.”
At the end of the The Dark Night, Commissioner James Gordon reluctantly declares that the late Harvey Dent, was “not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed.” He instead casts Batman as the villain to preserve hope and peace in the crime-ridden streets of Gotham.
Sri Lankan cricket, too, needed a hero in an era of turbulence. The past decade for Sri Lanka hasn’t been all that great, it’s been pretty bleak to be completely honest.
Amidst this time of inconsistency and decline, Sri Lanka found a steady presence in Dimuth Karunaratne. Now that Karunaratne has decided to hang up his boots after his 100th Test, it’s time to reflect back on a stellar career.
The Never-Ending Transition After the Golden Generation
Until not too long ago, it felt like Sri Lanka were in a never-ending transition cycle.
Between 2007 to 2015, Sri Lanka advanced to the semi-finals of six ICC tournaments, finished as the runners up on four occasions, and finally clinched the 2014 T20 World Cup. Their worst performance? A quarter-final exit. Yeah, digest that.
As the golden generation—Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Samaraweera, Kulasekera, Vaas, Malinga, and Muralitharan—faded into the history books, it was time for the next generation to step up. Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, and Lahiru Thirimanne were expected to carry the mantle with the legend of Herath hanging around for seasoned support.
This didn’t exactly go to plan. While the next-gen delivered a few memorable moments, they were usually in and out of the squads and their performances have often fallen short of expectations.
In seven ICC tournaments since 2015, Sri Lanka has yet to make it past the Group stage (Super 10s/Super 12s in T20 World Cups) and even crashed out of the group stage in the 2016 & 2018 Asia Cups!
The situation in Test cricket was just as grim. Between 2015 and the beginning of the WTC in July 2019, Sri Lanka lost 24 Tests and only won 19. In comparison, they had won 30 Tests and only lost 23 Tests in the nine years prior (2006-14).
A nation once celebrated for producing one gem after another had hit rock bottom. It began to feel as though the Pearl of the Indian Ocean had lost its luster.
That’s where Karunaratne comes in, the one who bridged the gap between two generations. Karunaratne debuted alongside Sangakkara-Mahela-Samaraweera-Mathews and helped Sri Lanka make the transition.
Karunaratne’s first few years were not terrible, but they were definitely not a Kamindu Mendis-esque start either.
“I went to the middle with so many expectations, and I got out for a duck first innings. I thought I’d lost all the hard work I ever did in just a moment. I was only there as an injury replacement, so I thought I’d never play for Sri Lanka again.“
He would further showcase his talent with a 85 in Sydney (where another opener named David Warner would also score 85 incidentally).
In his early years, he had several glittering starts, but only a few fifties, and even fewer tons, Averages of 22, 28.62, 42.83, 36.61, and 29.29 from 2012 through 2016 didn’t do justice to his talent, and he was dropped after two years. However, his recall to the side was a turning point with the 152 at Christchurch becoming one of his career highlights.
“There are two – my maiden hundred against New Zealand. It was the first match I was playing after getting back into the team…That was a really tough hundred for me, against a great New Zealand attack…Then there’s my hundred at the SSC, against Jadeja and Ashwin. That was a pitch that took extreme turn.”
2017 was the year that everything seemed to come together with his batting: 126 vs Bangladesh, 97 & 141 vs India, and 196 vs Pakistan in the UAE.
Asia was conquered.
After Christchurch & Sydney, his celebrated overseas performances would include 103 in Johannesburg (2021) and 107 at Bengaluru (2022).
Now let’s talk about the stats. He scored most runs as an opener for Sri Lanka (7129), comfortably ahead of Jayasuriya’s 5932 and ended as Lanka’s 4th highest Test run scorer ever.
But since no 2017, no opener dominated Test cricket as Karunaratne did. Since 2017, he tops all the charts as opener: Most Runs, most balls faced, most minutes batted, most 50+ scores, most 100s, and even most 4s!
During this period, Dimuth Karunaratne inevitably holds the other batting records
— Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog (@cricket_broken) February 9, 2025
Openers in the last ten years have struggled across almost all conditions, averaging in the lower 30s. Even Sir Alastair Cook’s averages declined in the latter part of his career due to the challenging conditions.
To end up as the most prolific opening batter for your country is no joke. To be the best in the world for a decade is a next level feat altogether.
Instability and the Constant Revolving Door
Every Sri Lanka squad announcement for ICC tournaments after 2015 felt like a luck of the draw. Multiple players would be dropped, Tharangas and Kapugederas would magically make comebacks after years of absence, and new captains would be selected.
Sri Lanka’s Test openers in the last ten years were a revolving door as well: Tharanga, Thirimanne, Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Vithanage, Kaushal Silva, Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Kusal Perera, Udawatte, Samarawickrama, Oshada Fernando, Gunathilaka.
To put Karunaratne’s accomplishments in perspective, he would play 157 innings as an opener after 2015. Kaushal Silva was the next best with 43 innings.
The player switcheroo would in ODI cricket even as late as 2019.
On the eve of the 2019 ODI World Cup, Upul Tharanga and a few others were dropped, while Karunaratne was recalled as a specialist captain. He had last played an ODI in the 2015 ODI World Cup, but selectors had a good reason to get Karunaratne back into the blue & yellow jersey:
“We saw in South Africa how Dimuth was able to unite the team, and have everyone playing together. That was what was important to us at this time.
Sri Lanka ended as 6th in the 2019 ODI World Cup and their shock win against favorites England kept the World Cup alive. 2019 would also see one of the greatest Test victories of all time with Kusal Perera’s 153*, where Sri Lanka became the first Asian country to win a Test series in South Africa:
“It’s the biggest highlight. Captaincy was never something I’d chased….It’s one of my favorite chapters of my career.”
Karunaratne led with humility and quiet confidence, captaining Sri Lanka in 30 Tests with 12 wins and 6 draws.
Karunaratne retires yes, but tomorrow, the world will go on. Parades won’t be blocking the streets, trains will not stop, the stock market will not crash, and people will continue to go about their business as usual.
In the large scheme of things, nothing much has changed. However, in the small country of Sri Lanka, Karunaratne’s contribution made a monumental difference and will never be forgotten. And that is all that matters.
“When people reminisce about cricket, they think about Tests. We’re still talking about Don Bradman’s records, how many double centuries he’s scored, in how many innings. Whatever happens to me from here, there might be a list that goes up on a Test broadcast, and my son or my grandchildren will see that. I’ve got that record for life, and beyond. That’s worth a lot to me.“
Karunaratne had dreamed of playing 100 Tests and scoring 10,000 runs. Unfortunately the 10,000 runs did not happen (and may not ever happen again for Sri Lanka given how Test cricket is going for tier two nations, but that’s a different story), but he can hold his head high for all that he has accomplished.
What Can We Learn from Dimuth Karunaratne?
Author Bryant McGill once stated,
“I’ll take reliability and dependability over talent any day of the week.”
Did Karunaratne spark a white-ball revolution like Eoin Morgan? Did he redefine Test cricket mentality like Kohli or embrace the audacity and do whatever Ben Stokes is doing with Bazball? No, Karunaratne was an unassuming, yet effective leader.
Did he have batting mannerisms like Elgar or Smith, an aura like Cook or Khawaja, or the swagger like Warner or Rohit? No. But he was unquestionably reliable, dependent, and consistent, exactly what Sri Lankan cricket needed at that time.
In an era of uncertainty, Sri Lanka could always rely on Dimuth. He may not have been a superstar, but in the era of uncertainty, Sri Lanka didn’t need any more superstars.
So indeed, Karunaratne was the hero Sri Lanka needed, not the one they deserved. Karunaratne can take pride in the fact that he has left Sri Lankan cricket in a better place.
What will he be doing next? He has now moved his base to Australia and will spend time honing his coaching skills. Do not be surprised if he returns to Sri Lanka to serve his country once again in different roles. For Karunaratne, team always comes first, and he will continue to serve Sri Lankan cricket for as long as he can.
I will leave you with his emotional goodbye in the 2nd Test against Australia, in which he ended his speech with,
In The Alchemist, a young shepherd named Santiago from the Andalusian region of Spain leaves his simple life to chase a dream, which he calls his ‘Personal Legend.’
He embarks on a journey of self-discovery filled with unexpected twists and turns.
Along the way, he learns several life lessons. One of my favorites is,
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”
– Paul Coelho, The Alchemist
****
New Zealand Lift the 2024 T20 Women’s World Cup
Just like Santiago, today we celebrate Sophie Devine’s incredible journey. After 14 long years, the universe has conspired to help Sophie Devine finally lift the T20 World Cup Trophy, this time as captain.
Remember, the White Ferns narrowly missed out on World cup glory in the inaugural 2009 and 2010 T20 World Cup editions.
What Happened in the 2010 T20 World Cup Final, You Ask?
14 years ago, the Boot Happened.
The Boot? Yes, the boot.
Specifically, Ellyse Perry’s boot.
5 runs needed in the final ball, 4 runs for a Super happen. Watch what happens yourself.
Sophie hit a crisp straight drive, only to be denied by Ellyse Perry.
She was stranded on 38*, just one hit away from a World Cup.
Sophie Devine must have been devastated. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. In her own words,
“I have had nightmares about that Ellyse Perry right boot. Think we were so close in that match.”
Her love for sports came through her dad, who was also her first coach. She grew up playing all sorts of different sports but cricket & field hockey took center stage as she entered university.
She became the White Ferns captain in 2020 during the form of her life and the 2024 T20 World Cup was to be her last T20 tournament as captain.
“It’s Only Those Who are Persistent, and Willing to Study Things Deeply, who Achieve the Master Work.”
Devine wasn’t always the power-hitting batter we now come to think of.
She actually burst onto the scene as a young 17-year old bowler who batted at #11.
In T20Is, she wouldn’t play a major match-winning innings until she was promoted to #4 in 2010, scoring 35 & 48 against Australia. She would score her first fifty in 2012. Devine didn’t even play a single ODI between 2010 and 2013. She would make an ODI comeback in 2013 and score her first ODI hundred, a magnificent 145, that too in a World Cup.
With the ball, she brought her best to the T20 World Cups – 3/18 and 4/22 (semi-final) in 2016, and 3/18 in the 2020 T20 World Cup.
Her evolution in turning herself into a dependable top order batter and one of the greatest all-rounders the world has ever seen is a testament to the hard work and dedication she put in to hone her craft.
Santiago found help in his journey—a merchant under whose tutelage he learned trade skills, a Gypsy who interpreted his dreams, an Englishman who knew alchemy, the love of his life in Fatima that gave him direction, a tribal chief, and many others who guided him along the way.
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Devine similarly had a cast of members she could depend upon in the 2024 World Cup.
She embraced herself as one of the self-proclaimed ‘grandmas’ of the team. Alongside Devine were Suzie Bates, who became the most capped women’s player across formats (and fun fact, she also represented NZ in the 2008 Olympics as a basketball player) and Lea Tahuhu, once the fastest women bowler in the world.
They also had a cast of up and coming players such as Eden Carson, Georgia Plimmer, Brooke Halliday, Rosemary Mair, and a 24-year old Amelia Kerr who already has eight years of international cricket, an ODI double century, and (now) 188 international wickets to her name.
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
The senior trio must have known deep in their hearts that 2024 was their final chance.
Sophie Devine & Suzie Bates had fallen 8 consecutive times, and this was to be Tahuhu’s 5th T20 World Cup as well. Their recent T20 World Cup record didn’t ooze much confidence.
And there must have been some doubts creeping in as well.
After all, the White Ferns were coming off a 10-match losing streak.
Tahuhu’s economy in the previous 5 matches before the WC hovered between 8-12.5. Bates hadn’t made a half-century for 12 straight games even as an opener. Apart from two fifties, Devine had nothing to show with the bat with scores of 17, 0, 9, 5, 12, 4, and 5 in the entirety of 2024.
In any case, even after falling for eight times and the losing streak, they got up for a 9th time.
And as it would turn out, 9th time was the charm for Devine & Bates.
“Sometimes There is No Way to Hold Back The River”
So, how did the White Ferns manage to win the T20 World Cup against all odds?
Devine’s 57* and Mair’s 4/19 against India set the tone, but the World Cup victory was definitely a team effort.
Amelia Kerr’s historic all-round effort while limping in the final, en route to becoming the player of the tournament, was superhuman. Halliday’s impetus in the final, Tahuhu’s 1-run over that caused South Africa’s collapse, Eden Carson’s semi-final performance (and her interviews), the find of Georgia Plimmer, the spinners’ contribution, Gaze’s gaze behind the stumps, and Maddy Green’s catching, it all added up in the end.
No New Zealand batter made the Top 4 run scorer list (Bates & Plimmer were NZ’s best with 150 runs each at joint #5). With the ball, Kerr was #1 (15 wickets), with plenty of support from Mair (10) and Carson (9).
Fielding was a hallmark of New Zealand’s campaign in an otherwise low catching standard for a World Cup. Bates (7 catches), Maddy Green (6), and Devine (5) dominated the catching charts.
Devine doesn’t necessarily like the cringy ‘Devine intervention’, but this time, maybe it was divine intervention.
Sometimes, what is bound to happen will happen. Sometimes there is no way to hold back the river.
37-year-old Suzie Bates. 35-year-old Sophie Devine.
Two legendary players of New Zealand cricket have won the World Cup, What a day in Cricket ♥️ pic.twitter.com/WYpE8KzXkU
What Can We Learn from Sophie Devine and the White Ferns?
After narrowly missing on the 2010 T20 World Cup win and consecutive World Cup defeats, Devine and Bates never gave up. Sometimes the universe does conspire to reward those who refuse to quit.
I’ll leave you with a final Alchemist quote,
“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”
– Paul Coelho, The Alchemist
It doesn’t matter whether you are beginning your career or are towards the close. It is never too late to dream. Keep on dreaming even if it looks like the hope is fading away.
This is a remarkable victory, one of the greatest in New Zealand’s sporting history for sure. Remember though, more than winning, the journey is important, as it was in both Santiago & Devine’s cases. In Devine’s own words,
“I have played for 17-18 years now. It [World Cup win] will be something that will come with so much loss and hard times but also incredible memories and people along the way.”
– Sophie Devine
And why not end it with my favorite clip of the 2024 T20 World Cup?
