Throughout Sri Lanka’s second innings in Bengaluru, a procession against the new ball and under lights, the only time Dimuth Karunarante appeared remotely bothered was when Niroshan Dickwella, at the opposite end, jumped out of the safety of his crease to Axar Patel. As Rishabh Pant flicked off the bails, Karunarante did a head tilt of disapproval: another teammate had deserted him, and the lone battle only became more futile with just the tail to go.

It was always going to be challenging: better batting line-ups have rolled over at home against India’s rampaging attack, a bottomless pit of spin and seam that has created quite the fortress on dusty, slow Indian pitches. Sri Lanka’s fate was already sealed when they lost their top three for 14 runs in the first innings, and by the time the second innings came, a thumping loss was a sad certainty. Karunarante, though, was thriving on a different plane.

Karunaratne has seen a time when things were better for Sri Lanka. When he debuted, the Kumar Sangakkara-Mahela Jayawardene batting duopoly was still in power, Rangana Herath was piercing through sides, and Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews supervised the middle order. Over the years, Sri Lanka’s batting standards have dropped quite a few notches, with issues of every kind and measure plaguing them.

For a side struggling to find the right personnel, Sri Lanka have tried out 15 other openers since Karunarante’s debut, with Kaushal Silva being the only other to feature in 15 or more Tests. Much like he did in Bengaluru, Karunarante has been a saviour when others have withered: over the last decade, Karunaratne has been Sri Lanka’s leading run-getter, collecting 14 centuries. His fourth-innings hundred in Bengaluru took him past Jayasuriya’s tally of 13 tons as opener; among Sri Lankans, only Marvan Atapattu has more (16).

The accomplishments stand out further because Karunarante’s responsibilities as opener extend to captaincy as well, the batting load amplifying since Kumar Sangakkara’s retirement. In the period since the Sri Lankan great walked away in 2015, Karunaratne averages 42.85, having scored 4,328 runs as opener: no other Sri Lanka opener has crossed 900 runs.

And it’s not just about his performance among his teammates, Karunaratne has been among the best in the world since Sangakkara’s retirement. In the period, his total tally stands at 4,360 runs, the fifth-highest in the world, behind only Joe Root, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. The statistics have dialled up even further after his performances in 2021, quickly leaving behind a forgettable 2020.

Ever since he first led the side in February 2019, Karunarante has scored the second-most runs in the world among all captains, bettered only by Joe Root. The century count (six) is also just two behind Root. And this includes Root’s magnificent 2021, the third-best aggregate year any batter has ever had. Karunratne himself had a bumper 2021, where he scored four hundreds and averaged 69.38. Fourth-innings knocks are slowly proving to be his forte: after his match-winning 122 against New Zealand in 2019, Karunarante returned to spring up some of the same magic in Bengaluru. Among openers from Asia, Karunaratne is one of only three [Sunil Gavaskar and Jayasuriya being the others] to have at least two fourth-innings centuries.

Much beyond the numbers, though, it’s Karunaratne’s calmness at the crease that’s really a comforting presence in a fickle Sri Lankan line-up. Against a jagging new pink ball under lights, the rest of his teammates meekly surrendered, but Karunaratne appeared unflustered, staving off the challenge with poise, before diffusing the considerable spin challenge later in the innings. Strong on both sides of the wicket, he wasn’t afraid to use the depths of his crease or step out when needed; there was silence all around, but he was diligently playing his solo piece on the guitar.

At 33, Karunaratne is far from done, even as stiffer challenges await him. Sri Lanka’s fortunes are unlikely to undergo a drastic change, for there are deeper issues that need to be resolved. As their captain and premier batter, he can only do so much, but he won’t stop grinding away, being the first and last man in a battle. The transition has been slow and unforgiving, but there can’t be anyone better than the serene Karunarante, both captain and batter, to take them through it.