He must be able to graft his runs and must have a good temperament to concentrate for long hours. That's what Marvan Atapattu did the other day. It was an object lesson in batting. The beauty of Atapattu's chanceless knock was that he picked the loose balls and deposited them beyond the boundary line. His cover drives were something to remember, as it was coming from a batting artiste.
Cricket is a very fickle game.
Atapattu had an inauspicious start to his Test career, with sheer grit and determination he blossomed. I can remember as the Cricket Manager of Sampath Bank in the late 1980s, Marvan Atapattu had a problem. At that time he did not concentrate enough to play a long innings, but, I knew that he will come good, and I am proud of him. Form is temporary. Class is permanent.