Biography

Always calm and composed under pressure, Russel Arnold's ability to play according to the situation made him one of the best No. 6 batsmen. His agility in the field and useful off-breaks provided Sri Lanka with a multi-utility player.

The gangly left-hander may not have been easy on the eye with his stroke play but he was pretty effective. He started out his career mainly as a top order batsman. Arnold made his debut for Sri Lanka, opening the innings in a Test match against Pakistan in 1997. It took him two years to cement a place in both the formats, and in 1999 scored his highest of 123 against Pakistan in the Lahore Test. Owing to inconsistent displays and rise of Marvan Atapattu, Russel was demoted down the order. In 2002, the southpaw got his second chance to come and play from his usual position due to Jayasuriya’s lack of form. He replied with the scores of 62 and 109, but, they were in vain as England still managed to win the match. After that, Arnold managed to play a handful of Tests before being dropped from the squad.

In the ODIs, ‘Rusty’ managed a better career, his gritty attitude saw him take the Lankans to victory from many tight situations. His solitary ODI century (103) doesn’t even begin to define his importance in the team in the shorter version. He still suffered the drop from the national side in 2004 as the selectors wanted to blood fresh talent. On the basis of strong performances in the domestic circuit, Arnold broke back into the squad in 2005 against India. His position was seriously under threat from the likes of Tillakaratne Dishan and the pressure spoke as he lost his place in the side again, following a disastrous tour of England in 2006. Arnold made his return to the ODI team on the basis of experience for the 2007 World Cup after which he retired from international cricket. He then joined the rebel league and was banned by the SLC for the same. Once his ban was lifted, Arnold resumed domestic cricket and took up commentary.