The converted opener settles in

Tillakaratne Dilshan thinks like Virender Sehwag. He doesn't have the outrageous skill of Sehwag to consistently put the good deliveries to boundary but he tries. This has led to his downfall, many a time. In Dilshan speak: "If there is anything in my zone, I have to go for it."

By opening with Dilshan, Sri Lanka are hoping to recapture the glory days when Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana indulged themselves against the new ball. However back then, unlike now, the middle and lower-middle order were strong. Hence there is a greater pressure on Dilshan. Sri Lanka have stacked up their attacking options at the top, hoping to ride on their momentum. "If Sanath and I get off to a good start, then we should make at least 275," Dilshan said.

In the 142 matches that he has played in the lower middle order, he averages 28.33 at a strike-rate of nearly 80. In nine matches as an opener, he averages 53 with one hundred and two half-centuries at a strike rate of 99.46. The ratio of fours per game has also gone considerably higher as an opener.

Dilshan is not your traditional finisher who muscles the bowlers out of the park. He needs the ball to come on to him and he flashes it away off his wrist power. In that respect, the new ball should suit him.

Dilshan always wanted to bat higher, not necessarily as an opener, but in the top order. Initially, there was no vacancy. Later, the team needed him to remain down the order. It takes a special breed to survive down there. You get to face only a few overs and you have to create the maximum impact out of it. Get in, hit out, but try not to get out. No wonder Dilshan wanted to move up.

But the team situation prevented him for the men batting around him down the order were raw. "But now Kapugedera has played quite a few matches, Kandamby is coming along and so they would have learnt how to play down there."

Finally, after years, Dilshan sensed an opportunity to go up but No. 3 and No. 4 were still booked. So he set about proving to the selectors that he was good enough to open by batting in that position in first-class matches last year. "I was the Man of the Tournament. Then I got confident that I can do if for Sri Lanka as well. Then I went to Bangladesh and did well."

The selectors and management started to believe. In a discussion with them, Dilshan expressed his willingness to open consistently. He built a case for himself in Pakistan, scoring 255 runs at 127.5. "I was happy with my 137 against a really good [Pakistan] attack."

This series, though, he has averaged 13 in three games. But Dilshan isn't alarmed. "First match I was run out, in the second I was out hooking. I pull and cut well normally, so these things can happen. In the third game, the run-rate requited was high and I had to keep going for the shots."

Dilshan is aware he has to be more careful about his shot selection against the new ball. Watching Jayasuriya has helped. "The ball was moving around in Pakistan and Sanath let the ball do its thing for the first ten overs. After that, he suddenly changed the game around. I am new to this job and am learning still. You have to be more technically correct in the first five to six overs. If you get a start, you can make a big one. If one of us gets out early, the other will hang in for a long innings. That's the plan."

For a converted opener, the biggest worry is not the new ball but whether he will get enough chances to prove himself. What happens if he fails as an opener? Dilshan says the selectors have assured him a long rope. And they have further bolstered his confidence by naming him the captain of the Twenty20 team.

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For all these years, whenever Dilshan has got out to an ambitious stroke after teasing with his flair, Sri Lanka have just shook their head and told themselves, 'Dilshan will be Dilshan. That's how he bats,' and moved on. Now that he has been given greater license to go for his shots and against the new ball, it will be interesting to see his mental adjustments and his shot selections. Will it improve? That will determine his longevity as an opener.