Upul Tharanga who announced his retirement from international cricket last week was a solid opening batsman for his country having displayed his prowess in all formats of the game.
His overall career figures and statistics of course, does not really provide a clear reflection on the vast amount of contributions he has made towards the success of the Sri Lanka team.
But more important about his performances is the fact that he has always concentrated on team effort and to build up partnerships with teammates with the intention of putting his side in command.
In fact, Tharanga has figured in as many as seven double-hundred opening partnerships for Sri Lanka in One Day Internationals (ODIs), which is quite a significant achievement.
In terms of partnerships, his best batting performance came during the fifth and final ODI against England at Leeds in July 2006, which also helped his team to complete a 5-0 sweep against the hosts.
The elegant left-hander put on an opening stand of 286 runs in 31.5 overs along with Sanath Jayasuriya as Sri Lanka romped to an eight-wicket victory with more than 10 overs to spare.
Their opening stand record stood for 12 years until the Pakistan pair of Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman established a new record with a stand of 304 runs against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2018.
Focus on the team
Tharanga’s focus on the team is very much clear when considering that he figured in another double-hundred opening stand with a contribution of just 68 runs during their tour of New Zealand in December 2006.
This time he did not mind playing the supporting role for his team as Sanath Jayasuriya blasted the New Zealand bowling attack with an 82-ball 111, which helped Sri Lanka to complete a seven-wicket victory in the first ODI at Napier.
Tharanga then found another new opening partner in Tillakaratne Dilshan and the pair established themselves as one of the most destructive combinations in world cricket.
In fact, Tharanga was a key player in Sri Lanka’s 2011 ICC World Cup campaign with a couple of big scores to his credit in the sub-continent.
His magnificent 282-run partnership with Dilshan in the game against Zimbabwe at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy, virtually sealed Sri Lanka’s place in the World Cup quarter-final.
Tharanga continued his majestic form in the 2011 World Cup and figured in another 200-plus stand with Dilshan in the quarter-final fixture against England at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
Tharanga’s contribution was an unbeaten 102 inclusive of one six and a dozen boundaries as Sri Lanka overtook England’s modest total of 229 for six with 10 overs and 10 wickets to spare.
Tharanga also had the satisfaction of winning a total of 11 ODI Man-of-the-Match awards and one of them came against Bangladesh when he hammered an unbeaten 118 in a Tri Nation Tournament game at Dhaka in January 2010.
The significant fact about this innings was that he also added 215 runs for the first wicket along with Mahela Jayawardene as Sri Lanka cruised to a nine-wicket victory with seven overs to spare.
The Tharanga-Jayawardene batting association continued and this time the pair added 213 runs against India in a Tri Nation Series game at Kingston.
Highest ODI score
This match in fact, turned out to be a memorable one for Tharanga who also had the credit of scoring his highest ODI score - 174 not out from 159 deliveries with three sixes and 19 boundaries.
Another innings in which Tharanga showed his class was when he scored a battling century against New Zealand while facing the likes of Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram in the second ODI at Christchurch in 2006.
Tharanga’s knock of 103 of course, was not good enough for Sri Lanka to win the match but yet he was named Man-of-the-Match simply for his determined batting performance.
Tharanga may have not had the same amount of success in the longer version of the game but he certainly left a lasting impression with his trademark style of batting.
In fact he had a very good start to his Test career and produced a Man-of-the-Match winning performance while playing in his third Test against Bangladesh at Bogra in March 2006.
Tharanga had the opportunity of playing in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup at a time when the shortest format of the game was still beginning to build up the momentum.
He had limited opportunities to showcase his potential during his career but yet ended up with a strike-rate of 123, which is much higher than some of the other reputed players.
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