Extremely talented and focused, Malinda Warnapura was unfortunate that he couldn’t serve Sri Lanka for a longer period. He came from a cricketing family with his father, uncle and cousin all having been active cricketers. An old-school opener who had a textbook in everything he did, the left-handed batsman’s patience was an aspect of his game that was lauded by many.

Despite the obvious skill levels, it took a while for him to get his maiden national call up, despite piling on the runs in domestic cricket and with Sri Lanka A. Although his Test career started inauspiciously with a duck, he bounced back with a bang - conjuring five fifty-plus knocks in his next seven innings, two of which were converted into centuries. Malinda did have a problem starting off an innings, as evident from the five ducks in the 24 hits that he had at Test level but once set, he could bat for long periods without any fuss.

He never got to face stronger bowling attacks like Australia or South Africa as he got dumped after a minor slump in 2009. Considering his promise, he deserved a longer rope but that wasn’t to be, as he got axed from the side. Malinda did play a handful of ODIs but neither did he succeed, nor did he appear suited to the format. His methods worked best for the longer format and if he had more fortune, Malinda could have ended up as a very successful Test batsman.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan