by Rex Clementine

As Sri Lanka ended their Test win drought that had stretched for 16 months, they had an unlikely hero. Praveen Jayawickrama, a left-arm orthodox spinner on debut was Man of the Match, finishing with figures of 11 for 178, the tenth best bowling figures by a debutant in Test match cricket.

Despite having played just ten First Class games before his Test debut, Jayawickrama bowled like a man who had been in the professional circuit for years. The turn he was able to produce was quite handful when the wicket started crumbling, but he also had control, guile and a clever arm ball. His rise has surprised many Sri Lankans but not World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who predicted a bright future for the youngster when he saw him a decade ago and took him under his wings.

“Ten years ago, my school Holy Cross College, Kalutara wanted to do a full day training camp for all the cricketers of the school. Arjuna was the Member of Parliament from the area at that point. So we asked him whether he could come along and help us. He readily agreed,’’ Sunil Silva, an old boy of the school and the Most Popular Schoolboy cricketer of the Year in 1986 told The Island.

“I remember Praveen sent down his first delivery and Arjuna stopped the next bowler and had a word with Praveen. He then sent down a couple of more deliveries, Arjuna turned to me and said, ‘Sunil, I see a bit of Ajit de Silva in this kid.”

Ajit de Silva, also a left-arm orthodox spinner, played in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test and later was banned for 25 years for going on the rebel tour to apartheid South Africa in 1982.

After the session, Ranatunga met the Rector of the school and inquired more about young Praveen. “Arjuna came up to me and said, Father, look after this kid. He is a special talent. He had no doubt Praveen would go onto play for Sri Lanka,” Rev. Fr. Camillus Fernando, the Rector of Holy Cross told The Island.

Ranatunga was conducting a cricket academy for the kids of that area every weekend and Praveen was invited to attend. He made steady progress and went onto represent Sri Lanka Under-19.

“Praveen’s father passed away when he was small. We have four kids,” Praveen’s mother Nimali told The Island.

“Praveen is our second son. The eldest son, got a law degree. The third son just got selected to University in Engineering. The fourth son is also good at studies. Only Praveen missed out on his studies. In fact, he could not sit for GCE AL exams. All the time he was occupied with games either with the school or with Sri Lanka Under-19. This was troubling me. But I remembered Arjuna’s words that one day he would go onto play for Sri Lanka. Therefore, I did not stop Praveen’s cricket and let him continue to play,” she added.

Speaking to The Island, Ranatunga said that there are lots of talent away from Colombo but they do not get nurtured properly. “I have always believed that outstations produce some superb talents. Look at Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan or Rangana Herath. But we don’t invest much on outstations. Praveen Jayawickrama and Ramesh Mendis took 17 wickets in the second Test that Sri Lanka won and both are from outstations.”

“Praveen has great potential. I have no doubt about that. But then, the important thing is young players need to be guided well. Discipline is the key. Talent will get you somewhere, but you need to work hard and stay disciplined to achieve greater things,” Ranatunga a veteran of 93 Tests added.

“He is not the finish product yet. There are a few technical areas he has to work on. I think his right arm is falling too soon. He needs to work on his endurance. If he can spend some time with someone like Murali, that would be ideal. But he is a smart kid with an ability to outsmart the batsmen. That’s a very rare skill. I am sure we are seeing a special guy here. We will hear a lot about him in years to come,” Ranatunga added.