Dickwella ready to step into ring

HYDERABAD: Fright is not an option when a pacer looks you in the eye and swears at you. Imagine being left all alone to face the fury, especially if the bowler is one of the quickest and best in the world and the match happens to be your first international outing.

However, that was not the case with 21-year-old Niroshan Dickwella. Instead of get- ting blown away by the pace of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, the Sri Lankan remained at the crease for more than three hours and carried his bat to the next day, scoring a half-century.

It was Day Two of the second Test in Colombo when Morkel, who was hurling the ball at over 140-km per hour, got irritated and exchanged a few words with him.

Dickwella had hardly settled down, having been rushed in from England. The only practice session he had would surely not have prepared him for the sledging Morkel dished out. “‘This is not your game, this is ours. You are just a kid.’ This was what Morkel said looking at me,” Dickwella told HT.

The trick, however, failed as senior batsman Mahela Jayawardena shared words of wisdom with Dickwella.

Dickwella’s comparison with Kumar Sangakkara is obvious as like his role model, he not only bats left-handed but also keeps wickets.