Sonal Dinusha: A throwback to Lankan old school holds fort in Colombo

Indian fans may feel somewhat hard done by at their bowlers not being able to breach the Sri Lankan defence, but nothing can take away from the way young Sonal Dinusha stood up against them. When did you last hear of a batter scoring three centuries in a two-Test series, not to speak of raking up 50-plus innings in all four innings he batted in?

A look at the sequence of his scores — 100, 84, 103 and 133 not out — sums up his dominance, but only just. If he has lost out on the Player of the Series award to Devdutt Padikkal (two centuries), it could have been largely due to India winning the series 1-0, though their inability to force a clean sweep has now made their route to the World Test Championship 2025-27 final tougher.

There could be serious questions about whether India’s decision to make the hosts follow on after scoring 503/9 came from a degree of overconfidence. Captain Shubman Gill later said it wasn’t but then, it’s now clear that they didn’t bargain for a young Lanka batting line-up holding the Indian spin trio at bay for a total of 154 overs on a fourth- and fifth-day wicket.

Mind you, the Lankans fielded a depleted top order in Colombo, without three of their most experienced campaigners: Kushal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka recovering from injury, and Dinesh Chandimal sidelined for observation after a concussion in the Galle Test.  

Their act of defiance, thus, was largely thanks to 25-year-old left-hander Dinusha, who has been alternating between the sixth and seventh positions in both Tests, though he can now rightfully claim a position higher up the order.

Despite all the excitement around this new-found talent, it’s difficult to ignore the contribution of Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who offered commendable support with 80 and 92, against all odds.  

A look at past Sri Lankan batters with centuries in either Test innings shows the exclusive club that Dinusha finds himself in — Duleep Mendis, Asanka Gurusinha, Aravinda De Silva (twice), Tillekaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (twice), Kamindu Mendis, and Dhananjay De Dilva. Barring the last two, the rest were masters whose craft was built on monumental patience and temperament in their own conditions.

Danusha, refreshingly enough, seems to be carrying some of that DNA as he has shown in the five Tests he has played since his debut against Bangladesh last year. The way he used the sweep as well as reverse sweep negated any impact that debutant off-spinner Saransh Jain ought to have had on a left-hander, while neither veteran Ravindra Jadeja nor newbie Manav Suthar could ask too many questions of him.

Dinusha’s career figures already amount to a staggering 606 runs from nine innings with an average of 86.57, and three centuries. The fact that he is a product of the old-school first-class cricket system of Sri Lanka is evident from the fact that he has amassed 3,882 runs there at an average of 46.21, including 12 centuries and 20 fifties.

No wonder he is basking in all the glory, with some keen followers of Lankan cricket finding shades of Hashan Tillekaratne in him. There are, however, sceptics who feel there have been false dawns before, pointing to the likes of Chandimal or Lahiru Thirimanne who could not quite match early expectations.

One can only wait and watch…