Mohammed Siraj.
Credit: X/@ICC
Thushara Cooray, a quirky but endearing Sri Lankan scorer of serious experience, says something peculiar at the end of every dismissal. When announcing the time of dismissal to the media, he says ‘rahu kalam’ followed by the actual time of the wicket. Turns out, he has been doing it for years.
The term means inauspicious time, and is said so in jest by Cooray on most days at most games. But Sunday was not like most days Cooray has seen in his four-decade-long career.
In the first 50 minutes of a bizarre evening at the R Premadasa stadium where India were playing Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup, he called out ‘rahu kalam’ so often, he himself was getting tired of it, and somewhat tentative too, should it irk the local journalists.
He apologised to anyone he might have offended at the end of the innings followed by a nervous chuckle, but no one was in the mood to listen because everyone was still disenchanted by Sri Lanka’s performance, simultaneously awe-struck by Mohammed Siraj’s brilliance.
Sri Lanka: 50 all out in 90 deliveries. Siraj: 7-1-21-6. India: 51 for no loss in 37 deliveries. Total match time: 116 minutes. Result: India won the Asia Cup for the eighth time.
That, in a nutshell, is what the capacity crowd saw during yet another rain-affected game, but that’s not revealing of how they felt. Entire sections of the stands sat with their mouths agape while some just kept their eyes closed. The Indians too looked a bit bemused after a point because the game began to assume a peculiar pattern to it.
During what was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Lankan innings, which as it is started 40 minutes late due to a drizzle, Siraj knew he was in rhythm from the time he ran in from the Khettarama end.
He must have hoped his end was the better one because Jasprit Bumrah, although with a wicket in the first over, didn’t look sharp from the other end. He would have felt good in minutes that he would be better placed because he managed to beat Kusal Mendis four times in the opening over with an identical out-swinger.
Another shoddy Bumrah over followed, but Siraj was in the corridor still. Only this time, he picked up four wickets - Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva.
The stands were astonished that a team which only recently won 13 ODIs in a row was in ruins at 12 for 5 after 24 deliveries of a final.
Each time a batter walked in, it was natural to assume that there was going to be a partnership somewhere. But none of that happened. They walked back just as quickly as they walked in, and Siraj’s delivery to Dasun Shanaka summarised the state of affairs poignantly.
The skipper played the line of the ball and held his poise, hoping the ball wouldn’t do much. Siraj was not in a mood to not do much. The ball, though angling in, had its seam shaped towards the slips and so it landed and moved away just enough to defeat the edge and slam into the off stump. That sound, that image, that celebration from Siraj. Chilling.
That was the Hyderabadi’s maiden fifer, and he made it six a short break later, with an in-swinger no less. Statisticians were in overdrive by the time Hardik Pandya came on and made the most of the mess by picking up three wickets for three runs in 14 balls.
India responded expectedly with Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill scoring unbeaten 23 and 27 respectively. And so, at 6:06 pm, someone in the press box shouted out ‘rahu kalam’ followed by the time in jest, and Cooray laughed aloud.