Dilshan once again proves he is a man for all seasons
You know how the saying goes. “Tillakaratne Dilshan : form is temp-“
Oh, wait! When it comes to this man, form is permanent, and so is his class. The Sri Lanka Legends skipper proved exactly that as he grabbed a deserved Man Of The Series award in the first-ever edition of the Unacademy Road Safety World Series.
The restart of the Unacademy Road Safety World Series came with a lot of questions. How will the players react on the pitch after such a long time out of the game? How will and how soon will batters and bowlers find their rhythm? Tillakaratne Dilshan wasted no time in showing off his fitness and continuity in the game.
The Sri Lanka Legends skipper started off rather well, scoring 47 against the West Indies Legends. He followed it up with a half-century against the South Africa Legends. Then, he made a handy 33 against the Bangladesh Legends, and followed it up with an unbeaten 61, his best score, against the England Legends, destroying them in the process. See a trend here? Mr. Consistent, is what Dilshan is! He kept putting up handy runs and giving his team strong starts game after game. He became the template for others to follow early on in the tournament and kept it up right until the last game. The stalwart ended up being the highest run-getter in the tournament.
However, what really stamped Dilshan’s name in prime position for the Man of the Series award was his ability to contribute with the ball as well. Believe it or not, this unbelievable player actually out-bowled the likes of Nuwan Kulasekara anrd Rangana Herath. He picked up 3/35 against the Aussies (before the restart of the tournament), picked up 3/21 against Bangladesh, and in what would be considered one of the most devastating spells of spin bowling, he managed to return figures of 4/6 against the England Legends. The Sri Lanka Legends skipper ended up as the man with the most wickets in the tournament as well.
He also was brilliant in the field, plucking some astonishing catches and acrobatically diving left and right to save boundaries. He showed that he has not lost any of the match fitness even after such a long lay-off from the game.
His efforts proved that he was rightly adjudged Man Of The Series, and despite not being able to guide his side to the title, he will definitely go home feeling some joy.
Being the best bowler AND the best batsman in the series at once? It is the stuff of dreams but in the Unacademy Road Safety World Series, we witnessed the best of Dilscoop and Dilshan!!!
