Most of the focus and attention was on India’s Devdutt Padikkal for his centuries in back-to-back Tests. But on the final day of the series, all the talk was about a 25-year-old left-hander from Colombo whose consecutive hundreds in the second and final Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club denied India a series sweep.
When play resumed on Thursday, Sri Lanka were only 16 ahead with just four wickets in hand. But Dinusha, who had been Sri Lanka’s best batsman in the series, stood like a wall of defiance. In the process, he not only scored his third century (133 not out off 264 balls, including eight fours and two sixes) of the series, but also eventually guided Sri Lanka to the safety of a respectable draw.
Finishing the series as the top run-getter with 420 runs and an outstanding average of 140, Dinusha became only the third after Duleep Mendis and Aravinda De Silva to score centuries in both innings of a Test against India.
The kind of conviction Dinusha played with, despite coming out to bat in a pressure situation in all four innings, was commendable. People who matter in Sri Lankan cricket feel Dinusha has striking similarities with former Lankan middle-order batter Hashan Tillakaratne in terms of a sound defence and the ability to bat with tailenders.
The sweep is his “signature stroke”, which he has practised extensively since childhood, as his coach at the Mahanama College in Colombo, Dulshan Elwalage, revealed.
On top of everything, though, it’s his conviction which could well go on to place him on the same pedestal alongside Lankan greats like Kumar Sangakkara, Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya. His current Test average of 86.57 screams that Dinusha is on the right track.