Just-wed Dananjaya ends up sad Man-of-the-Match
Fast bowlers hunt in a pack, but spinners can bond too. Ask young Sri Lanka bowler, Akila Dananjaya, who gave India a scare in the second ODI here on Thursday.
The 23-year-old grabbed six wickets in the space of 20 balls to confound Indian batsmen before MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ensured India extend their winning run in Sri Lanka.
Dananjaya was a sad Man-ofthe-Match after the loss, having rushed back from his wedding the previous day. But he was delighted that senior Sri Lanka spinners played a special role at his wedding.
Dananjaya got left-arm spinner Rangana Herath to sign as witness along with Ajantha Mendis, the last prominent mystery spinner for Sri Lanka. “I like Herath from those days,” Dananjaya told media after the match. “I like Ajantha too. Rangana is our Lanka number one. I liked them so much and invited the two to sign for my wedding.”
WRONG ONE DOES IT
He is officially an off-spinner, but his variations are what get the batsmen. Dananjay bowled India skipper Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav with the googly. He got Rohit Sharma leg-before with a leg-break and Axar Patel trapped with a straighter one. Hardik Pandya was stumped off a googly.
“I realised the off-spin wasn’t helping much. So I decided to get my variations back. The target we had to defend wasn’t too much either. So we had to take wickets. I bowled a lot of variety and that went well.
“I’m an off-spinner, (but) wicket-taking balls are leg-spin and googly.”
Dananjaya was spotted by former skipper Mahela Jayawardene at a net session in 2012 and fast-tracked to the national team. But the teenager, who boasts of the doosra, carrom ball, leg-break, googly and the stock ball in his armoury, was discarded after his 50-over game debut in 2012. He was recalled only in June this year against Zimbabwe at home.