Discarded Madushanka becomes highest paid player in LPL 

by Rex Clementine  

The greatest batsman the nation has produced Aravinda de Silva never had a central contract from Sri Lanka Cricket worth US$ 92,000. Pay for cricketers two decades ago were so low. Dilshan Madushanka, from the tiny fishing village of Hungama from deep down south is barely a household name in the sport, but the left-arm quick became the most expensive player in the Lanka Premier League fetching a sum of US$ 92,000. All that for just two weeks’ work! Not bad for a 22-year-old.

Madushanka was surprisingly overlooked for the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe and many have argued the lack of left-arm variation in the Sri Lankan attack. But as another great man Kumar Sangakkara once said, ‘like God, the selectors move about in mysterious ways.’

Madushanka is one of the brightest young prospects to come through and five years ago fellow left-arm quick Chaminda Vaas predicted a bright future for the fast bowler, who was 17 at that time.

Since Chris Silverwood, a fast bowler himself from Yorkshire, took over as Sri Lanka’s Head Coach, he has worked quite a lot on the quicks and on several occasions has commented on Madushanka’s work ethic and excellent attitude. Madushanka gave us a glimpse of what he can do last year with that terrific inswinger that uprooted the stumps of Virat Kohli during the Asia Cup.

Madushanka started off at a base price of US$ 20,000. Soon there was a bidding war between Jaffna Kings and Galle Titans and in no time his pay was doubled to US$. 40,000. Jaffna were not giving up and were willing to pay him US$ 60,000  and further raised the bar to US$ 80,000 making him the most expensive buy in the LPL.

Galle weren’t going to throw in the towel and quoted US$ 82,000. Jaffna hit back with US$ 84,000. Galle then placed their highest premium with a bid for US$ 90,000 but Jaffna had the final say by parting way with US$ 92,000.

The bidding war summed up the story. Everyone in cricket circles have identified what an asset this Dilshan Madushanka is. It’s time for the selectors to follow suit.

It’s a fairytale story for the youngster who from the humblest of beginnings has gone onto become the biggest buy in the tournament. It’s just a matter of time before he goes onto stamp his authority with his deadly left arm swing bowling. When someone of the class of Wasim Akram appreciates a player, that means that kid must be special.