Thriving under pressure comes from confidence and belief in yourself

So as long as the management and the captain knew that that was what I was doing, they left me alone, which was good. It allowed me to think and do what I thought was best. Obviously, everyone who had confidence in me allowed me to do it, says Aravinda de Silva

Interview with Aravinda de Silva

R. Kaushik

Aravinda de Silva had already established himself as an all-weather batter, wowing audiences in different parts of the world with his silken touch and aggressive stroke-making, but his stocks truly soared after his lead roles in the semifinal and final of the 1996 World Cup.

Walking in at one for two in the semifinal after Sri Lanka lost openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana in the first over of the match from Javagal Srinath, de Silva smashed 66 off 47 deliveries in a counterpunch that left India stunned. Embracing an entirely different role in the final against Australia when Sri Lanka needed 242 to create history, the right-hander remained unbeaten on a measured 107 off 124 deliveries, masterminding a seven-wicket triumph.

Player-of-the-Match in both encounters, Aravinda signed off with 6,361 Test runs and 9,284 in One-Day Internationals, apart from picking up 135 wickets in the two formats combined. As he sits down for a freewheeling chat, a chain with a cricket bat dangling around his neck — ‘a birthday gift from my wife,’ he smiles — the 57-year-old turns the clock back, recalling the best moments of his cricketing life and ruminating on Sri Lanka’s current predicament. Excerpts:

Several years back during a chat, Arjuna (Ranatunga) said one of his primary objectives before the 1996 World Cup campaign was to ‘keep Aravinda happy’. Clearly, that worked, didn’t it?

(Laughs) No, it’s not a case of being happy. It’s to know what my responsibility was and to make sure I focus on my responsibility and deliver. So as long as the management and the captain knew that that was what I was doing, they left me alone, which was good. It allowed me to think and do what I thought was best. Obviously, everyone who had confidence in me allowed me to do it, starting from Davey (coach Dav Whatmore), (manager) Duleep (Mendis), all of them who were at the top. Along with Arjuna, that’s what they did. We did a lot of planning, strategy. The happiness comes when there’s success. Arjuna felt I was really happy being in that zone. Only I would have known the amount of pressure I was going through, but I never wanted to show it to anyone and put more pressure on any of the youngsters. That’s my nature, I want to tackle pressure. If the entire pressure was upon me, I’d like to be in the present, enjoy that moment, rather than sulking under pressure. I felt that is when the best of me comes out. I’ve always enjoyed pressure in every sense.