A tale of two captains

Clarke, Jayawardene have similar roles to play for their teams

In many ways, Michael Clarke and Mahela Jayawardene are at the same stage at this point in their careers – as batsmen and as captains.

As Clarke and Jayawardene continue to be the batting mainstays of Australia and Sri Lanka respectively, they also have the tough task of leading their sides through murky waters. If the on-going triangular series can be taken as a pointer, then they are on the right path.

Clarke and Jayawardene have taken over as captains when their sides have been preparing to take unsure steps towards the future. The recent ouster of Ricky Ponting from one-dayers has left Clarke with just a couple of experienced names in his ranks in Mike Hussey and Brett Lee, the latter a sporadic presence through a variety of injuries.

Jayawardene too has only a few players accustomed to the rigours of international cricket in Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga. So, their task is crystal clear – fuse experience and youthfulness so that Australia and Sri Lanka have well-balanced teams for the 2015 World Cup.

It’s a frustrating job because sides in transition can go through extended lean periods in terms of results, and both Jayawardene and Clarke have shown immense patience so far in guiding their outfits. It might be a coincidence that Clarke became the full time captain during Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka last year, and Jayawardene retook the reins of the Islanders during their trip Down Under for the tri-series.

Sri Lanka is a tough place to travel, especially when you are leading a side not exactly adept in playing spin. But Clarke, a wonderful player of spin, led from the front as Australia emerged winners in Tests, one-day, and T20 series during that tour. Then there were shared series against South Africa and New Zealand, which didn’t precisely boost the image of Clarke as captain and batsman.

But a 4-0 win in the Test series against India, and a brilliant run with the bat that included a maiden triple hundred at Sydney, has put Clarke firmly behind the saddle. Clarke was quite excited about his job.

“It has been a tough start, but the exciting part is to get the experienced and young players together. My job is to ensure that the process moves on smoothly, and fortunately we have a good pool of youngsters coming in, and we also have some experienced players around us,” Clarke said.

Jayawardene, however, has a slightly different situation to tackle. He took over after Dilshan quit captaincy after the series against South Africa. Agreed, Jayawardene has prior experience in captaincy and has always been considered as an innovative and daring skipper who loves to take his chances.

But taking his side to Australia straightway upon his return as captain wasn’t an easy job, and Jayawardene admitted as much. “It wasn’t an easy decision to make, and I needed 24 hours to think whether I wanted to accept the job or not. Even then, I had butterflies in my stomach when I stepped out for toss for the first time in some three years,” he said.

However, that hasn’t prevented Jayawardene from marshaling his troops confidently. He has been the most aggressive skipper among the captains on show in the tri-series, constantly looking out for wickets irrespective of the nature of the total he’s defending.

As a batsman too, Jayawardene has been a pretty big influence on Sri Lanka, especially after moving to the top of the order. The elegant right-hander was struggling to time the ball while batting at his customary number four slot, and the lean patch of Upul Tharanga gave him a chance to go up the order.

It was a brave move to face the new ball in Australian conditions considering his poor form, and he hasn’t made a hash of it so far, often providing Lanka a quick start in the company of Dilshan.

Now, these two captains face a big test on Tuesday when their teams clash in the second final of the triangular tournament.

A win will ensure Australia the title, and cap Clarke’s golden summer, while a victory will earn Lanka and Jayawardene another chance to win a title that will heal some recent wounds.