Since few days some of the so called statsgurus asking for Mahela's head. The points these guys are making are Mahela's away record and as they say Mahela's weakness outside the off stump against fast bowlers [which is ridiculous to say to a batsman like Mahela Sir]. As they say, Mahela has a poor away record. But hey, who cares about these useless stats. There are other ways to determine the greatness. Anyway, I'm writing this article to prove those stats guys are wrong and Mahela is Sri Lanka's best Test batsman.
Let's have a look at current middle order batsmen's career averages.
Kumar Sangakkara - 55.80
Thilan Samaraweera - 49.54
Mahela Jayawardene - 49.41
Don't depend merely on averages. Not only in Tests, Mahela has scored 10 000 runs in ODIs as well. That shows his greatness as a Test batsman. [Yes, we Mahela fans don't rate Don Bradman at all. Who is that guy ? He doesn't have 10 000 runs in any format. In fact he didn't even played a single ODI. So how can we rate him as a Test batsman. We are getting huge support from Sachin Tendulkar fans for this cause.] Also Mahela has 31 Test tons, which is the highest for a Sri Lankan batsman. [Sangakkara has 30 tons in 34 innings less than Mahela].
Then they show Mahela's Away record. Yes, it is not great. But if you are a true Sri Lankan, you should not talk about this. We Mahela Jayawardene fans are expecting an 'Ostrich Approach' from all the Sri Lankans on this matter. That's the best way to solve it and that would benefit our Test team in a great manner.
Away :-
Sangakkara - 48.50
Samaraweera - 43.62
Mahela - 34.79
Outside Asia :-
Sangakkara - 40.87
Samaraweera - 37.90
Mahela - 30.93
But hey, Mahela was born as the most talented batsman Sri Lanka have ever produced. And he is from a great school in Colombo, Nalanda College, which has produced many Test cricketers. May be what Mahela has delivered as a Test batsman may not be enough for you, but surely he has delivered more than Samarawera. Has Samaraweera ever scored a century in an ODI world cup ? How can we forget Mahela's ODI centuries in 2007 ODI world cup semi final and 2011 ODI world cup final. Those two tons itself enough to consider him as a Great Test batsman.
Below table shows Sri Lankan batsmen Away from home in last 2 years.
Now those who are obsessed with stats are saying that Mahela has a low average than Rangana Herath and Dilhara Fernando as batsmen. But I think this is a conspiracy against Mahela. This is totaly Herath's fault ! How ungrateful is this short, chubby guy is to his captain. He has managed to stay not out in most of the times. His last innings at MCG is a prime example for that. Mahela has done nothing wrong by averaging less than 17.
Then they show, Away from home records of all the batsmen who has played more than 19 matches. Sangakkara is the 27th in the list with an average of 49.97 and Samaraweera is 60th in the list with an average of 44.75. Then there is Mahela at 131 with an average of 36.80. As I said earlier, we Mahela fans never expect any Sri Lankan to look at these stats. If you are doing so, we consider you are insulting Sri Lanka & you are a 'Sri Lankan Sri Lanka Hater'.
However if you had to see that stat you should see it in this way, "Mahela's Away average of 36.80 is right up there with GREAT TEST BATSMEN like Taufeeq Umar (37.48), Jacob Oram (36.09), Shaun Pollock (36.45), MS Dhoni (33.48), Scott Styris (33.22)."
Now I'm going to tell you few more good reasons, why Mahela is a better Test batsman than Samaraweera;
Mahela Jayawardene is an elegant and utterly classy batsman. His drive through the covers is majestic and treat to watch. How can you compare him with someone like Samaraweera, who has an ugly technique ?
Also don't forget that Mahela Jayawardene is so charming and can speak English better than Samaraweera. Isn't that enough to make him a better Test batsman ?
Mahela is the best Test batsman Sri Lanka ever produced, because he is the only Sri Lankan to play with a Monobrow.
Mahela has held more than 400 catches at international level, which is highest for any fielder. That makes him the best Test batsman Sri Lanka ever produced.
Another good reason to say Mahela Jayawardene is the greatest batsman from Sri Lanka is, because he was the most expensive foreign player in last 2 IPL Auctions. Mahela's IPL value was $ 1.5 million and Sangakkara's was $ 0.7 million. What do you think about Samaraweera ? Surely he is in 'minus' values. How boring is that guy.
How many so called great batsmen were able to score 2000 runs on flat SSC pitch ? Sir Mahela is the only Test batsman who was able to do so.
One more reason, Mahela is a great Test batsman because everybody around me are saying so and my girlfriend has a crush on him.
