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The ear-studs, fancily cropped beard and thick gold chains make Tillakaratne Dilshan look like the rock star in a line-up of prim and proper batsmen. He doesn't speak English with the sophisticated accent of Kumar Sangakkara or the polished tenor of Mahela Jayawardene. Dishan's is a more rustic tone.
In appearance and in style he is Sri Lanka's most flashy batsman. There's never a dull moment when Dilshan bats, much like Virender Sehwag's outings. And like Sehwag, Dilshan has the license to thrill.
He has gone out and done his own thing experimented with his batsmanship and more recently mocked at the laws of the game and diluted the spirit with which it is played. When it emerged that a senior pro in the team had instigated Suraj Randiv to deliver the no-ball which denied Sehwag the century, those who know the make-up of men in this Sri Lankan side bet their bottom dollar that it was Dilshan's doing.
There was bound to be some needling in the middle in the final when Dilshan was at the wicket. Not one to shy away from a scrap, Dilshan was soon exchanging words with Munaf Patel at the non-striker's end after Mahela Jayawardene pulled to find a boundary.
The chatter in the middle lasted a minute or so before Dilshan got back to batting. Dilshan cracked 110 off 115 runs hitting 12 boundaries and a six.
He ran towards the dressing room pavilion, jumped up in joy, swung his bat in the air and pointed to his name and number on the back of the shirt. The knock would have had a higher strike rate if Dilshan hadn't taken 23 balls to reach the three-figure score from his nineties. Sri Lanka finished at 299, the highest total in this tri-series, and they owe it to Dilshan.
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