By Rex Clementine
In cricket, post match press conferences have become so stereotype nowadays that there’s hardly anything interesting. But Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva for once changed the pattern when he announced his retirement after Sri Lanka’s win against Australia on Friday, "I’ll be definitely finished after the World Cup, but will sit down with the selectors and decide whether the team needs me after this series," he said. That statement made journalists covering the match to concentrate on one of the better stories from the Champions Trophy Tournament.

De Silva has been a wonderful servant of Sri Lanka’s cricket for 18 years in a career which began at Lord’s in 1984. He has shouldered Sri Lanka’s batting and has been marked as "the key man of the line up" for years. The team started to lean back on Aravinda following the retirement of Duleep Mendis, Sidat Wettimuny and Roy Dias in late 1980s and he along with Arjuna Ranatunga and Ranjan Madugalle steered the ship.

Captaincy was vested on him after the sacking of Ranatunga in 1991. Aravinda led the country in the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and with the responsibility of captaincy his batting began to suffer. After the World Cup he opted to concentrate on his batting mainly and since then remained as Ranatunga’s deputy. Along the way he was scripting some sweet victories for the country with inaugural Test wins against New Zealand and England in 1993 standing out.

His reputation as one of the leading batsmen in the game rose steadily and in the 1995 season he probably got the biggest break in his life when English county Kent signed him for a season. Aravinda performed exceptionally well there and his knock against Lancashire at Lord’s in the Benson and Hedges Cup final was outstanding against an attack spearheaded by Wasim Akram. Although Kent failed to win the game, some of those who saw him said it was one of the best performances they’ve seen.

De Silva after his stint with Kent flew to Pakistan to join our team in the Test series there. By this the Sri Lankans had lost the first Test, but the master batsman scored a hundred in the second game and helped the team level the series and was also instrumental in taking the side to victory in the third Test to win the series 2-1.

Probably his best performance for the side came in the 1996 World Cup. During the tournament he returned to form and the fifty he made in the semi-final against India and the brilliant hundred in the final changed quite a few things for Sri Lanka cricket.

1997 was the best year for Aravinda with the right-hander scoring heavily. Much was expected of him during the 1999 World Cup, especially as Sri Lanka were the defending champions. But he failed to live up to expectations. It was a disappointing performance, but not one which deserved sacking from the team. After the England World Cup, he was not chosen for the one-day games with the national selectors opting to go for youth. With the passage of time he also got the axe from the Test team and the selectors voiced a host of reasons for keeping him out. But de Silva all along maintained that the selectors didn’t communicate with him properly.

From 1999 there were several selection committees. On them were selectors who had played under Silva’s captaincy and there was a school of thought that some of them were being unfair by Aravinda. But luckily Michael Tissera went against all opposition and was instrumental in bringing him back for the crucial English tour. There were requirements on Aravinda’s part too. Tissera felt that the man had class and it was just a matter of him working on his fitness. He worked hard, lost weight and responded well to the demands of international cricket.

Since the English tour he has not looked back. He has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and done exceptionally well.

The star batsman has always said that he wants to continue as long as he enjoys the game. He had a dream come back in international cricket. Why is he leaving when things are going well for him? "There are quite a few youngsters coming up and I feel that when the time is right you should go and I want to leave on a high note," was his reply.

He also speaks proudly for being able to silence his critics, "The critics really motivated me. There were some people who were after me and I accepted the challenge," he said. And he has proved his critics wrong by giving joy to those who have supported him.

He has also had difficult times. His image was tarnished when his name appeared in the Indian CBI report to have had links with an Indian bookmaker. But a subsequent inquiry by the Sri Lankan Board cleared him.

During the 18 years as an international cricketer, de Silva has been a key player who has been instrumental in many Sri Lankan victories. Today he’ll be playing his last match in front of his home crowd. A standing ovation awaits him when he takes the field and everyone would be hoping he’ll sign off in style with a victory for his side.

"We have to go there and do our best, not put additional pressure on ourselves and perform," says Aravinda. He is a big match player and Sri Lankan supporters can look forward to something special from him today in the grand final.