Sports

Dilruwan leaves having not fulfilled immense potential

Published

5 years ago

2022/01/27

by Rex Clementine

Of all Jesus’ disciples, Peter is the most famous one. Peter was there at every sermon, at every miracle Jesus performed and even cut off an ear of a guard when Jesus was about to be arrested. But, Peter was not Jesus’ favourite disciple. The favourite disciple of Jesus was John. Like Jesus, every leader had his favourite disciple. Some of our political leaders had Mervyn Silva while some other leaders had Sagala Ratnayake. Cricketer Dilruwan Perera was one such having been coaches’ favourite disciple. He announced his retirement from international cricket yesterday.

The national cricket team had many match winners since the big three retired in 2015. There was Dimuth Karunaratne, who was prolific overseas. Angelo Mathews was cut above the rest while Rangana Herath became the most successful left-arm bowler in the history of the game, pace or spin. But for Sri Lanka’s coaches from Graham Ford to Mickey Athur, their favourite was Dilruwan Perera.

Why is that the case you may wonder? That’s because Dilruwan did all the ‘dirty work’. If you needed a bowler to hold one end up, Dilruwan was your man. If there was an end from which your star bowler didn’t want to bowl, Dilruwan would gladly accept the role. If you needed someone to step up as night-watchman when Wahab Riaz was reverse swinging the ball to deadly effect, Dilruwan was your man. All the donkey’s work and thankless tasks were kept at the doorstep of Dilruwan and how well he performed them.

Dilruwan was a classical off-spinner. If you have no idea his impact on Sri Lankan cricket, be mindful that he was the nation’s fifth highest wicket taker in Test match cricket. The press often asked him why he didn’t try the doosra. His answer was curious. He used to say that it would be the end of his career if he tried the doosra. It could be taken in many contexts. One is that all his contemporaries who bowled the doosra chucked. Two is that ICC wanted to weed chucking out of cricket. Three is that it is impossible to bowl the doosra without bending your arm. Dilruwan would never explain his theory. He made us to find out the answer. He was quite a cheeky bloke.

You also tend to get the feeling that here was a man who never fully realized his potential. Dilruwan scored 95 runs on his Test debut against Pakistan in 2014. He should have scored more than the seven half-centuries he ended up with in Test cricket. His Test average of 18 hardly does justice to the immense talent he possessed as a batsman.

Some famous names of Sri Lankan cricket have been opening partners of Sanath Jayasuriya. There’s Roshan Mahanama, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Marvan Atapattu. Dilruwana opened batting as well with Sanath in an ODI against Australia at MCG. Such was his potential.

Dilruwan’s best game with the ball was against the Aussies in 2016 in Galle when he claimed a match bag of ten wickets for 99. Well, he did claim another match bag of ten wickets for only 78 against South Africa two years later also in Galle, but any performance that helps you beat the Aussies is special.

Some problems Dilruwan never overcame. He claimed more wickets in Test match cricket off no balls than the number of gazettes that Mahindananda has revoked as Minister of Agriculture. His fielding remained horrendous and there have been some costly drops

It’s been more than a year since Dilruwan last played for Sri Lanka. The demand to finish the kilometer run in less than eight minutes and 35 seconds was a killer blow for a 39-year-old. But to his credit, Dilruwan didn’t throw in the towel as soon as the time limit was set in place. He tried. He’s leaving the game having given some fine memories. But the question will always be asked could he have done more? He surely could have.

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Sports

Tharanga lifts Sri Lanka’s profile in Budapest ahead of Asian Games

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rumesh Tharanga and his coach Tony Prasanna celebrate after winning the Ultimate Championship. (Pic credit World Athletics Ultimate Championship)

by Reemus Fernando

‎

Rumesh Tharanga powered Sri Lanka’s track and field to new heights with yet another dominant performance, winning the men’s javelin title at the World Athletics’ inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday.

‎In a performance that reconfirmed his position as the globe’s number one athlete in his discipline, Tharanga’s feat stood out not just for its drama on the field, but for how rarely Sri Lanka has produced a champion at this level.

‎Tharanga arrived in Budapest as the man to beat, having won 11 of his 12 competitions in 2026 and lived up to his billing winning by a huge margin.

‎Tharanga had already elevated the country’s profile when he qualified for the Ultimate Championship. Track and field is taken part part by over 190 countries in the world but athletes from only 65 countries could secure a berth in the Ultimate Championship. Only six Asian countries had athletes qualifying for the Budapest event. Hence he was already a winner before he entered the arena.

‎When the dust settled, not even half the nations that took part had a champion in any discipline.

How Tharanga dominated

‎‎Tharanga opened with an uncharacteristic throw of 75.89m, while European champion Julian Weber (Germany) took an early lead with 84.09m. In the second round two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada surged ahead with 86.18m. Weber improved to 85.89m but slipped to second. Tharanga found his rhythm with a throw of 85.69m. It was during the third round the 23-year-old seized the lead with a throw of 87.11m. Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan managed a season’s best 81.49m — good enough only for fifth and was eliminated before the final round.

‎In the final round, Tharanga produced a massive 91.09m throw, the first-ever 90-metre throw in Hungary according to World Athletics. Peters (82.63m) and Weber (78.75m) couldn’t respond, and the title was sealed.

‎‎Sri Lanka has not seen their athletes atop global athletics podiums. Only two Sri Lankan athletes have won Olympic or World Championship medals in the country’s history- underscoring how exceptional a global title of this magnitude is for Sri Lankan sport. Neither of the two winners won golds.

Tharanga created history when he won the Diamond League title a week ago. And on Sunday he continued his remarkable breakthrough year winning the Ultimate title.

‎A Sri Lankan winning a world-level throws title, against a field including an Olympic champion and a two-time world champion, is a landmark rather than a routine occurrence.

‎”This was my one and only goal — to bring the trophy to Sri Lanka,” Tharanga told the World Athletics after the event.

‎”I faced a lot of challenges today but I was still hoping to win and I’m proud I did it. I was never thinking about the prize money and I don’t have any idea yet how I will spend it. My next goal is to bring the Olympic gold medal home.”

‎While Budapest was the final destination for many top athletes for this season, Tharanga will have no time to rest as he has another milestone to accomplish when he leads Sri Lanka at the Asian Games starting in Nagoya, Japan later this week.

‎His presence means Sri Lanka has a near certain gold medal opportunity in track and field.

Sports

Sri Lanka rely on Pathum for batting resurgence

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka rely heavily on their consistent opener Pathum Nissanka. He is ranked sixth in the world in T-20Is.

The heartbreak of the T-20 World Cup earlier this year is still fresh. Sri Lanka failed to reach the semi-finals despite enjoying home advantage throughout the tournament, with their batting proving the Achilles heel. Those concerns have hardly disappeared as they head into a three-match T-20 series against England, beginning today in Southampton.

The batting misfired in both warm-up games against England Lions and how Sri Lanka respond when the real business begins remains to be seen.

It is not as though they have not tried to find answers. Sri Lanka Cricket has brought in power hitting coaches and psychologists, while several batters have been given a long rope. Yet none of those measures has produced the desired results in the shortest format.

T-20 cricket remains Sri Lanka’s weakest suit, as reflected by their ranking of ninth in the world, their lowest position across the three formats.

England, meanwhile, arrive with considerably more swagger. They went down fighting to eventual champions India in the semi-final of this year’s World Cup and are currently ranked second in the world, level on points with India. A series win will see Harry Brook’s side seize the number one ranking.

Sri Lanka have plenty of motivation of their own, with a 2-1 series victory helping them climb the rankings.

The bigger question, however, is how a batting unit short on confidence will cope against a formidable England attack.

Pathum Nissanka remains Sri Lanka’s biggest hope. Ranked sixth in the world, the top order batter has frequently carried the burden on his broad shoulders and once again much will depend on how he fares against the new ball.

Barring Kusal Janith Perera, there has been little change to the batting unit that featured at the World Cup. Given the continued struggles, it is fair to wonder whether Sri Lanka need to rethink not merely their approach but also the personnel entrusted with carrying it out.

The bowling, though, paints a much brighter picture.

Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana are both ranked among the world’s top ten, while the fast bowling unit has arguably been the most impressive component of the side. Their skill set and ability to hold their nerve under pressure have repeatedly helped Sri Lanka drag games back when the batting has left them with little margin for error.

One question that lingers, however, is whether Sri Lanka require quite so many spin options in English conditions.

Apart from Hasaranga and Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage and Tharindu Rathnayake are also part of the squad, leaving the selectors with some interesting calls to make over the balance of the side.

England have named a formidable squad led by Brook and featuring established match winners Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid.

There is also room for uncapped Welshman Aneurin Donald, a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket, while 22-year-old spin bowling all-rounder James Coles is the other uncapped player in the squad.

Sports

SSC and Tamil Union in T-20 final

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

SSC have been quite impressive in domestic cricket this season having already reached the finals of the one-day competition last week and this week they have reached the T-20 finals.

SSC beat a strong NCC side in the semi-final at RPS on Sunday night and will take on Tamil Union in the final on Wednesday also at RPS.

Tamil Union beat CCC in a high scoring game on Sunday at SSC. The scores were tied at the end of 20 overs sending the game to a Super Over and Tamil Union won the contest by the barest of margins.