In the very first decade of the 21st century, a marveric named Adam Gilchrist changed the role of a wicket keeper in test side forever, with his brutal batting at number 7.
Opener in ODIs, Gilchrist formula was way simple as a number 7 batsman in the test side : just hit the ball over the ropes, and many times over the park! those were the golden years of Australian cricket, and Gilchrist fearless, attacking batting down the order won plenty of matches for his team.
And now, Sri Lanka have blessed with their own version of “Gilchrist” in Niroshan Dickwela. Like Gilchrist, Dickwela is also a naturally gifted left-hander, and his formula is also simple : every bad ball deserves to be hit!
Though, he made his international debut in 2014, against South Africa, and immediately impressed one and all, with his twin half centuries in the very first test, against world class bowlers, he had been thrown into wilderness due to some unknown reasons. He didn’t play any match in entire 2016.
But, now he is back with a vengeance and within merely six months and three tours of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia, he has established himself as a permanent member in all the three formats. Most importantly, he looks a thinking player, who has the game plan for each formats. just like Gilchrist, he opens the batting in ODIs and t20, where attack is the best defense for him!
Though he merely played a handful of international matches so far, but already has begun to famous worldwide, for his some of the most outrageous shots in shorter formats, most famously “dickscoop” as commentators started to describe now.
But, most pleasant was his innings of 75 against Bangladesh today, in Galle, during the first match of the series. There were doubts, after his high octane innings in the t20 recently, against South Africa and Australia, that how will he cope up with the most challenging format: test cricket.
But, he surprised everyone with his composure, yet being able to fluent. There were all the ingredients of an “Gilchrist” like innings today : punish the bad balls and play the attacking brand of Cricket. Though this was just his 8th test innings, but his positive stay in the crease indicates, he could be Sri Lanka’s own Gilchrist!
