Coaching is about saying the right thing at the right time: Rumesh Ratnayake

The shot popped up from Kapil Dev’s tentative bat. The bowler, with that distinctive achromatic headband implicit acheronian curly hair, dove to his right, successful beforehand of the umpire, and took the catch, one-handed, ending the captain’s gritty sound of 78. Sri Lanka frankincense completed its first-ever Test victory, successful Colombo successful 1985, against a beardown Indian side.

That was Rumesh Ratnayake’s ninth wicket of the match. The speedy ended up playing 23 Tests and 70 ODIs, claiming 149 wickets successful all. The 62-year-old has besides had a memorable stint coaching the Sri Lankan women, guiding them to bid victories successful England and South Africa, arsenic good arsenic an Asia Cup triumph, beating India successful the final. Excerpts from an exclusive interrogation Ratnayake gave The Hindu astatine Thiruvananthapuram during Sri Lanka’s T20I bid against India:

How bash you look backmost astatine that Test successful Colombo 4 decades ago? Sri Lanka besides went connected to triumph that series, successful which Sunil Gavaskar batted successful the middle-order.

Yes, and I got him retired a fewer times. India had a fabulous batting line-up, with Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri. I retrieve Vengsarkar had this lazy elegance astir him. He had sleepy eyes, but would bash truthful overmuch harm with his bat. I deliberation it was a fantastic series. We each knew we had a chance. And those wickets were besides conducive to pace. Because our spot was gait astatine that time. If it was against Pakistan, it would person been a antithetic story.

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You were portion of a bully gait onslaught with Ashantha de Mel and Saliya Ahangama.

And we had a young leg-spinner Sanjeewa Weerasinghe, who sadly played lone 1 Test, which we won.

You had figures of 4 for 76 and 5 for 49.

That Test lucifer is benignant of engraved successful my mind. And radical propulsion it backmost each the time, adjacent now. Somehow, erstwhile a week I get a video; idiosyncratic volition nonstop it from somewhere. Unfortunately, that lucifer was not videoed fully. But erstwhile the authorities knew that we had a accidental of winning connected the 5th day, they sent a tv crew.

How overmuch did that Test triumph mean to the Sri Lankan squad and the state astatine that time?

It meant a lot. Our President, J.R. Jayewardene, gave a vacation the adjacent day. He had played cricket, you know, for his school.

You bowled astatine bully pace, and had immoderate memorable Test spells successful England, Australia, New Zealand…

My ambition was to vessel arsenic accelerated arsenic I could, to beryllium the fastest bowler. But those days we didn’t person arsenic galore opportunities, specified arsenic videos, to larn from. So my assemblage was the fast-bowlers of the era. I would speech to them.

I inactive retrieve the proposal I got from Richard Hadlee, who was specified a phenomenal bowler. He bowled similar the wind. He was truthful smooth, it was unbelievable. He is the 1 who told maine astir fast-bowling being each astir rhythm. I retrieve him telling me, ‘You person bowled faster than maine and you are asking me.’ I was conscionable 18 then. And I retrieve asking him, ‘Richard, but what bash you deliberation I request to do?’ He said, ‘Rumesh, conscionable deliberation of your rhythm. Think of your timing.’ That was the archetypal clip I was proceeding of the timing of the shot — erstwhile you merchandise the ball.

I besides looked up to Michael Holding, Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee. And Kapil besides has been a favourite. And what a batter helium was, too! We utilized to speech astir however helium hits the ball. He utilized to person this shot, which helium would play connected the up. It would spell past the mid-off and extra-cover. He would benignant of glide it. And sometimes the changeable would beryllium excessively precocious for the mid-off. But it’s adjacent the extra-cover. And bang, it’s gone!

But if you inquire maine who the champion fast-bowler I person ever seen oregon faced is, it is Wasim Akram. He was everything a fast-bowler needed to be. He had swing, pace, seam... He was a implicit fast-bowler.

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And the bowlers that you bask watching today?

Mitchell Starc is beauteous to watch. He has a beauteous rhythm, ace timing. And Pat Cummins, too.

When you took implicit arsenic coach, the Sri Lankan women’s squad hadn’t been doing well. You began your tenure with a triumph implicit big South Africa successful the 2023 T20 World Cup, past won T20I bid successful England and South Africa and stunned India successful the Asia Cup final.

Sri Lanka Cricket’s CEO Ashley de Silva asked maine whether I was funny successful taking up the presumption due to the fact that Hashan Tillakaratne was leaving. At that constituent of clip I said, ‘No, I haven’t ever coached women.’ Besides, Hashan is my person and I didn’t privation to instrumentality his job, but helium near and joined Bangladesh. So I accepted the connection and erstwhile I went for their grooming and saw them practising, I realised, ‘Man, this is simply a squad I tin turn with’.

But I recovered determination were a batch of negatives successful the system, particularly with the girls. I judge that if you springiness them confidence, if you make an situation successful which they tin learn, I americium definite they volition grow. And I saw successful the archetypal lucifer we played against South Africa, we bushed them, and retrieve that squad went connected to play the final. Our adjacent lucifer was Bangladesh. We bushed them. So we were connected a benignant of a roll. Then we lost...

How bash you callback those aboriginal days arsenic coach?

I judge successful creating the close benignant of environment, and it is astir saying the close happening astatine the close time. And nary negatives were spoken. If idiosyncratic bowled a atrocious ball, I wouldn’t say, ‘What a rubbish shot that is!’ Not that they did not marque mistakes oregon miss catches. They missed catches, but they knew I was backing them for the adjacent catch, oregon the adjacent moment.

We spoke of winning the ball, winning the moments. If you can’t deed a six, effort for a four, and if you can’t get deed a four, look for a 1 oregon a two. And I took the idiosyncratic facet away. Five-wicket hauls did not matter. Everybody chipping successful astatine the close clip mattered more. Nothing makes the manager happier. I didn’t attraction for a batter’s fifty. I would springiness her six oregon 7 balls erstwhile she is connected 40. I took inspiration from the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, wherever cipher is bigger than the team. The Australian cricket squad is besides similar that.

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In this series, your past of this stint arsenic coach, Sri Lanka showed a batch of tone successful the past 2 T20Is, but mislaid 0-5.

Yes, the girls fought hard, and careless of the result, it was a large acquisition for them, playing against the Indian broadside that won the ODI World Cup recently.

Women’s cricket is becoming much popular…

The crippled is evolving fast. I deliberation immoderate of the sixes you spot successful women’s cricket contiguous are astir arsenic large arsenic the ones that were scored by the men 30 years ago.