ফারভিজ মাহরুফ

Farveez Maharoof is a hard working all-rounder who has maintained his place in the Sri Lankan team after years of playing in all representative levels of Sri Lankan cricket. Having played for the U-15, U-17 and U-19 Sri Lankan squads, the selectors noticed his impressive leadership skills in the U-19 level and selected him for the 2004 Zimbabwe tour.

He performed wonderfully well in the 2004 Champions trophy played in England. Maharoof showed tremendous ability in swinging the ball on helpful pitches. He was promoted to open the bowling in the 2005 Tri-series, which was contested between Sri Lanka, India and West Indies. His spell of 10-5-9-3 against the Windies at Dambulla was one of the most economical spells of bowling in ODIs. He reserved his potency for the West Indies and he managed to pick up his best ODI figures in the qualifying matches for the Champions Trophy. He bowled out the Men from Caribbean for a paltry 80 with a spell of 9-2-14-6, the best figures in the history of the tournament, to help the Sri Lankans gain victory. He memorably commented after the match that he just kept things 'simple'.

Maharoof continued to grow in the national team. In the 2007 World Cup, he became the first Sri Lankan to take four wickets on WC debut when he picked up 4/23 against Bermuda. He prised out 10 wickets in three ODIs against England but later faded away due to injury. With the emergence of Angelo Mathews, Maharoof's place was under a cloud. However, he made a mark in the Asia Cup of 2010 when he picked up 5/42 against India, including a hat-trick.

Following another bout of injuries, Maharoof was not selected in the World Cup squad. With the retirement of Malinga from Tests and with injuries to Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Pradeep, Maharoof returned to the SL team for the tour of England. At that time, Maharoof was playing club cricket for Lancashire and many felt that he would be experienced enough to lead an inexperienced attack. Unfortunately, he struggled to be penetrative and was dropped for the third Test.

Maharoof was expected to play a vital role in a team that was enduring a transition phase after the twin departures of Muralitharan and Vaas. However, with fitness playing truant, Maharoof has been relegated to the sidelines. He came back and featured in the Commonwealth Bank Tri-nation series in 2012 but failed to deliver the goods, yet again.

Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera have now grown leaps and bounds to become premier all-rounders for Sri Lanka, banishing Maharoof to the domestic circuit.

by Siddharth Vishwanathan and Deivarayan Muthu