Tharanga Paranavitane's entry to Tests can be termed as baptism of fire literally, having come through the ranks as a tough player he went to Pakistan in that ill-fated tour, having gone first ball on debut when two of his SSC colleagues made double hundreds, it must be a tough experience for any player. To make matters worse, he was run out in the second innings before getting to the double figures. Sri Lankan selectors persisted with him, ofcourse the team was led by his SSC team mate Mahela Jayawardene.
On his first home test, which was also against Pakistan, the trend changed as Paranavitane found his touch making 72, However, he has failed to tranform his starts to make big hundreds and as an opener, he has had time on his side to make huge innings. Although, many pundits would tell you that statistics will not tell you all, his 6 fifties to 2 hundreds conversion rate will be questioned. As Paranavitane will kno, there is a lot of competition for batsmen for Sri Lanka, he will need to brush up this problem to reach greater heights in tests.
In the Cardiff test, he showed superb judgement in leaving the ball, but all the hardwork was put to rest when he dragged on. He would have learned much more from watching it in the slips when the England pair, Trott and Cook played so well and left the ball. Test cricket is much more patience and concentration, and when you are in form you should make the most.
