Tillakaratne looks forward to second debut

Hashan Tillakaratne will make a comeback into the Sri Lankan national side in first Test against India in Galle on Tuesday after two frustrating years on the sidelines.

He was dropped after the national selectors implemented a radical youth policy after Sri Lanka's disappointing performance in the 1999 World Cup.

Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Roshan Mahanama and Tillakaratne were all axed from the one-day side, though de Silva and Ranatunga were retained for Test cricket.

Mahanama decided to call it a day and went to Australia to write his autobiography `Retired Hurt'. Tillakaratne continued playing cricket, but did hide not his anger with the selectors' decision.

"I was angry because I could not understand the reasons for me being left out of the Test side and I wanted to play," he said.

His bitterness led to an ugly argument with Sidath Wettimuny, who had been chairman of the selectors when had been dropped, in the car park at the Nondescripts Cricket Club. Tillakaratne had to be restrained by fast bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake and Wettimuny filed a complaint at the local police station.

Tillakaratne's slim chances of a recall looked to have been squashed and he took up an administrative position within the cricket board's tournament committee during the Pakistan and South African tours to Sri Lanka last year.

But he had not given up. "I never gave up hope of playing international cricket again and I have wanted to represent Sri Lanka ever since I was dropped," he said. "I believed in myself and my technique. I was still enjoying the game and I wanted to continue playing the game."

When Ranatunga retired from Test cricket in August last year and with Aravinda de Silva's appetite for international cricket a continual source of debate amongst cricketing circles, Tillakaratne came back in contention for England's tour of Sri Lanka.

He just missed out after failing in one of the warm-up games, but went on to score 665 runs at an average of 110.83 in the domestic season and was recalled into the training squad for the India tour.

"There was always a couple of vacancies in the side and I realised that if I did well, there was a chance of me getting back into the side, so I tried my level best and did well in domestic cricket," he said.

Since coming back into the frame, he has attracted praise from the management for his hard working attitude. He may be 34 years old, but he retains his youthful complexion and remains extremely fit.

Those who have seen him bat recently claim that he batting as well as he did throughout his 52-match Test career, in which he averaged 38.59.

"I have not made any drastic changes to my game, though there were a couple of technical errors that I worked on with Dav (Whatmore), Owen (Mattau), and Hemantha (Devpriya)," he reveals. "I now have a lot of confidence in my batting and have been playing well recently."

Expected to bat at No. five, it will not be easy returning after two years, but he is not outwardly concerned.

"This is like a second debut, but I don't have any nerves," he says. "I don't need to prove anything to anyone else, but I want to prove to myself that I can still play successfully on the international scene."