Sports
Gamini – My friend
Today marks the 80th birth anniversary of visionary SLC President Gamini Dissanayake
by Nuski Mohamed
Gamini Dissanayae was my mentor and friend. My first interaction with him was in 1969 at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, when he was a lecturer in Company Law. Since then, we had been in close touch in terms of politics, cricket and corporate management.
In 1981 when Gamini was elected the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, I was the Treasurer. That was the year we famously became a Full Member of the International Cricket Council. Gamini’s leadership and the role he played towards Sri Lanka obtaining Full Membership is only too well known and need not be elaborated upon.
The following year, I was elected as Secretary of the Cricket Board and worked alongside Gamini until 1989 for a continuous period of seven years and was in constant contact with him. Gamini had a personality and a mind of his own, thought creatively and acted fearlessly. His leadership was unmatched. His decision making was precise in order to achieve timely and optimum results. One of those decisive moments was in 1982 when he took action with the blessings of the ExCo to ban the cricketers who went on the Rebel tour to South Africa for a period of 25 years without any hesitation whatsoever. It was an eye opener for younger generations.
Following the conclusion of the ICC meeting in 1985, over a coffee in the Long Room at the Lord’s Cricket Grounds, Gamini asked me whether I could take over the Chairmanship of the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation almost overnight. It took me by surprise, since I knew that the responsibility of heading a State Corporation was demanding besides being a full time job. I was then with the Private Sector since the early 1970’s post qualified.
Although I was on a few Director Boards of State Corporations, the task of taking over a Corporation appeared to be a challenge. However, knowing Gamini’s thinking that he will not take ‘No” for an answer, I requested a few days’ time, to ponder over same.
But that was not to be and on our return to Sri Lanka two days later, he summoned me to the Ministry of Lands and issued me with the letter to take charge of the Corporation immediately. He had obviously made up his mind long before though it was not communicated to me. On hind sight it was a pleasure working with a personality of Gamini’s stature including the experience and knowledge I gained. We always had mutual respect for each other in our work ethics. I enjoyed every bit of our working relationship.
In the early to mid 1980s, the bid for the 1987 World Cup was a tussle between Australia/ New Zealand on the one hand and India/ Pakistan representing the Asian region. Australia had been very helpful to Sri Lanka in terms of exchange of tours which at that time was rare due to our not so strong cricket strength with the exit of key players on account of the rebel tour. Domestically too in coming tours were hampered as a result of the LTTE terrorist activity. Besides, the fact that Australia supported us positively during the crucial vote at ICC without exercising the veto following the visit of ACB Chairman Fred Bennet to Sri Lanka was foremost in Gamini’s mind.
In the midst of the ICC meeting Gamini mentioned to me that Sri Lanka should show some gratitude and thereby initiated a dialogue with the Aussie delegation which included David Richards, to explain to them the circumstances that will compel Sri Lanka to extend support to the bid from the Asian Region. This was well received and appreciated by the Australian delegates. Regional politics did eventually play a dominant role with the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi speaking to his Sri Lankan counterpart President J.R.Jayewardene and SLC had very little choice.
Gamini’s concluding speech on behalf of the Asian Region Countries on the concept that the World Cup should be rotated as a part of promoting the game globally received overwhelming applause and support from the ICC membership.
Lt. Gen Safdar Butt, President of the Pakistan Cricket Board was a great friend of Gamini. Lt.Gen Safdar was very commandeering and had a personality of his own. During the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka in 1986 there was a fair amount of upheaval between the Sri Lankan umpires and the captain of the Pakistan team Imran Khan.
The current Prime Minister of Pakistan threatened to abandon the tour and take his team back home. That would have also jeopardized the Asia Cup in 1986 which was to immediately follow the Pakistan tour. Gamini using his personal friendship immediately phoned his counterpart Lt. General Safdar Butt who promptly took a flight and arrived in Sri Lanka at Gamini’s request to settle the dispute. Sanity prevailed and the tour continued with a change of Umpires for the final Test at the P. Sara Oval. A major catastrophe was thus averted.
Gamini never mixed cricket with politics. It was during our regime that the long felt need of a headquarters for the Cricket Board was identified and the project commenced at the SSC grounds. Gamini was able to negotiate terms with President J. R. Jayawardene who was also the President of SSC to construct the headquarters and the award was given to the State Engineering Corporation. We had no funds, but Gamini used his offices and found sponsors with the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation, Gamini’s creation also chipping in.
During completion stage Turnor Wickremasinghe, Engineer in charge of the project at SSC told me that he would use light green and black paint to the front of the building and that he has consulted the Architects etc. They also opined it would blend well with the green grass in the background. As Secretary of the Board the State Engineering Corporation Consultants were in touch with me on a daily basis on all routine matters during construction and I gave the green light to go ahead.
A couple of weeks later, I happened to travel to the SLC with Gamini for a board meeting and he was fuming when he saw the external walls in a light green shade and questioned me as to whose bright idea it was to use green colour on the walls. I must say he was very polite and I admitted that I had given the go ahead since it came from the Architects. He requested me to get them to substitute the green colour immediately with white at whatever cost since the public perception would be that we used green as he was the President of the Board as it was his party colour. It remains white to date.
During the early 1980s, Gamini appointed me as the Treasurer of the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union with the blessings of HE the President when he took over the reigns of the Union as the President. He set out his program of work in such a manner always conscious of the fact that LJEWU being a Trade Union its paramount commitment should be towards the welfare of the members that is the plantation workers employed mostly in the tea, rubber and coconut plantations who were suffering untold hardships.
Gamini was particularly grieved to note that the worker’s relationship with the Estate Management left much to be desired. He realized a new dialogue was a pre requisite and it was time the Management recognised this new challenge. He succeeded in bringing about this change through persuasive powers which included seeking government intervention from time to strike deals for the estate workers beyond wage hikes. That was the hallmark of Gamini as a Trade Union leader.
Dame Betty Boothroyd, former Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK once said “From the numerous occasions that I have interacted with Gamini, it is clear that he has a huge vision for Sri Lanka and its people. While one could consider him an idealist, the very fact that he delivered in terms of the gigantic Mahaweli Project illustrates that he is also an extraordinary performer. It is a testimony to Gamini’s pragmatism and determination.
Finally, back to the Cricket Board Presidency, it is my view that he carried out his responsibilities with consummate ease and tact. He was well aware of the divide and the club rivalries in cricket, yet he always endeavored to make the Cricket Board a place that is accessible to all both players and administrators alike, so long as it was in the best interest of cricket. I am so proud and privileged to have been closely associated with Gamini, the personality who took Sri Lanka Cricket to such great heights during his regime.
Sports Editors’ note:
Mr. Nuski Mohamed was the right hand man of late Gamini Dissanayake having functioned as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in 1980s. He served the cricket board up until 2015. He is still actively involved in cricket dedicating time to club cricket.
The Women’s ODI World Cup is five months away and, after the drama of the qualifier in which Pakistan and Bangladesh confirmed their places at the tournament, preparation begins in Sri Lanka with a tri seried. Sri Lanka host India and South Africa for a seven-match tournament, which will include the pressure of reaching a final. All three sides have uncapped players in their squads so there are bound to be some new faces alongside old rivalries.
Here’s what you can look forward to over the next two weeks:
India’s quest for silverware begins
As hosts of this year’s World Cup, and after their failure to make the semi-finals of the last T20 tournament, all eyes will be on India to see if they can grab their first major trophy and continue to set the pace for the development of the game. Their players come into the series on the back of recent game time in the WPL and a six-match winning streak in ODIs, albeit against non-World Cup participants Ireland and West Indies. Regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur missed the Ireland matches but is back to lead the side in a sign that the leadership will remain unchanged heading into the World Cup.
Their most exciting prospect is 22-year old Kashvee Gautam, who was the most expensive uncapped player of the WPL and has Harmanpreet’s name on her wickets’ list. She was the joint-leading bowler among Indian players at the WPL with 11 to her tally (along with Shikha Pandey, who has not played an international in two years) and had best economy rate among Indian bowlers (and second best overall) and her international call-up is as deserved as it is expectant.
There was no such reward for the leading Indian run-scorer at the WPL. Shafali Verma scored two runs more than Harmanpreet and was fourth-highest overall but cannot find a spot in a squad that includes Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh. While India’s batting looks strong and familiar, their bowling reserves could be tested as all of Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu and Pooja Vastrakar are injured which will leave it to Arundhati Reddy to lead the pace attack. Left-arm spinners N Shree Charani and Shuchi Upadhyay are the two others who could have their first international outing. Upadhyay was the third-highest wicket-taker in the domestic women’s one-day trophy last year.
Sri Lanka’s sweeping changes
Sri Lanka are back at the ODI World Cup after missing out on the 2022 edition and secured automatic qualification when they finished fifth in the Women’s Championship, ahead of New Zealand, but there’s work to be done to have a good tournament showing. Sri Lanka have lost their last two series – to Ireland and New Zealand – and will want to find form ahead of the World Cup, especially as they are not scheduled to play any other matches between now and the start of the tournament.
They’ve rung in the changes for this series, with six from the last squad, and included four uncapped players as well. Thirty-nine-year-old left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera is back in a squad that will be headlined by a strong spin contingent, including Malki Madara, who may get her first game. There are three other spinners in Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani and Kavisha Dilhari, which has left space for only two seamers. Achini Kulasuriya is one of them and 18-year-old allrounder Rasmika Sewwandi, who was part of the Under-19 squad, is the other.
Sri Lanka’s batting is well-settled and the challenge will be for them to continue finding contributions from sources other than Chamari Athapaththu, who will doubtless be key to their World Cup campaign, but has stressed the need for the load to be shared. Slowly, that’s started to happen. Harshita Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne both scored hundreds in the last year and became the only Sri Lankan batters other than Athapaththu to do so. Sri Lanka will want to see more names on that list soon.
South Africa without Kapp
Before South Africa can start thinking about whether this World Cup could be the one where they take one more step than usual to get to the trophy, they have to find their feet under a new(ish) coach Mandla Mashimbyi, who has enjoyed title-winning success with the Titans provincial team but had no prior experience in women’s cricket, was appointed late last year and oversaw part of the home series against England (which went badly as South Africa won only one match out of seven across formats), but this will be his first proper test.
He will take it without senior allrounder Marizanne Kapp, who is being rested as she manages her workload, or batter Anneke Bosch, who is injured, but has the core of the squad that reached the T20 World Cup final at his disposal. That includes legspinner Seshnie Naidu, who did not get a game in the UAE but may play a big role alongside Nonkululekho Mlaba in future visits to the subcontinent.
Wicketkeeper-batter Karabo Meso, who was key to South Africa’s run to the Under-19 World Cup final, is the talk of the town on the domestic circuit and could bring depth to a batting line-up that will have an in-form Sune Luus (third on the domestic run-scorers charts) and the experience of Laura Wolvaardt, Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon to lean on. South Africa have also gone light on seamers with Masabata Klaas and allrounders Annerie Dercksen and de Klerk to share duties as they aim to give their spinners a solid run. South Africa will also travel to West Indies and Pakistan before the World Cup.
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IPL 2025: Harshal, Kamindu lead Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first win against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai
A three-pronged performance from Kamindu Mendis and Harshal Patel’s use of the middle of the pitch led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to win their first-ever match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai, a win SRH will hope revives a faltering campaign.
Dewald Brevis, on his CSK debut, and Ayush Mhatre, the youngest CSK player ever in only his second innings, threatened to inject some freshness into a stale CSK campaign, but the 154 they took CSK to was not enough to avoid their fourth loss at home in IPL 2025 even though they did give SRH a scare on the dry pitch.
In the kind of slugfest you expect of lowly-placed sides on a tricky surface, the batters overcame the conditions only in small pockets despite heavy dew for considerable duration of the game.
Brevis looked every bit the player that earned the nickname ‘Baby AB’, but his threatening innings was cut short on 42 off 25 balls by arguably the catch of this IPL by Kamindu, who had earlier wowed us again with his ambidextrous spin. CSK mounted a spirited defence, but Kamindu calmed SRH with his unbeaten 32 off 22 to see them home.
Despite a first-ball wicket for Mohammed Shami, the 17-year-old Mhatre continued to display his quality through good intent and efficient hitting through the off side. He hit six fours in the first four overs to take CSK to 37 for 1, but now SRH began to dig the ball in and started to make both him and Sam Curran hit into the leg side.
Harshal was the bowler to kickstart the plan. Mhatre nearly holed out to deep midwicket before Curran actually did so. In the next over, Mhatre drilled Pat Cummins straight into the lap of mid-off. At 50 for 3, CSK edged past only their fourth powerplay of 50 or more in nine games.
Brought in in place of Rachin Ravindra, Brevis immediately looked a notch above the other batters in the match. Even as the placeholder No. 4 Ravindra Jadeja struggled to get any fluency, Brevis took down Kamindu, who had bowled the first two overs for no boundaries and took the wicket of Jadeja. On a dry pitch with enough grip in it, Kamindu made no mistake but Brevis still hit three sixes in his one over, the 12th. He then cut a slower bouncer from Harshal for a six off extra cover.
This is when Brevis looked to hit a second six off Harshal. The ball was in the slot too. He got a good part of it but not quite the elevation. Kamindu, however, was too far in off the long-off fence, so it looked like he would be beaten but he flew to his left, went with two hands at this missile, and came up with the ball in his right hand.
After Brevis’ wicket, SRH turned the screws right in. Cummins bowled overs 16 and 18 for no boundary, hitting a Test-match hard length and beating the bat with some away movement. SRH kept chipping at the wickets, including M S Dhoni caressing Harshal to backward point. There was no finishing kick.
If Shami took a wicket first ball, Khaleel Ahmed took one second ball, reaching eight powerplay wickets this IPL, joint highest along with Mohammed Siraj. Anshul Kamboj, preferred to R Ashwin for this match, then bowled successfully to a difficult plan: a 6-3 off-side field with two mid-offs. He had Travis Head repeatedly playing across the line to straight balls, hitting the pad twice and then the top of off.
Ishan Kishan fought his way past 17 for the first time since the hundred in SRH’s first match, but it was an innings that hovered around a run a ball for a long time. Heinrich Klassen, promoted ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy who would eventually bat at No. 7, felt obliged to take a risk and got out to Jadeja to make it 54 for 3 in 8.1 overs.
With enough in the pitch for them, the CSK spinners continued to stifle Kishan and Aniket Verma. Just when Kishan looked like he could break free, Curran took a special catch at deep midwicket to send him back for 44 off 34. Verma swung a lot, hit two sixes, but became Noor Ahmad’s second wicket for 19 off 19, leaving 49 required in 6.1 overs.
The two overseas bowlers of CSK, Matheesha Pathirana and Noor, were generous with extras but it was more Kamindu’s assured sweeping that sent signals of calm to the SRH camp. It was actually a credit to the CSK bowling that they took the game so deep because even the changed ball was now wet and flying across the outfield.
Kamindu and Reddy didn’t have to do anything fancy in their unbeaten 49-run stand in under five overs. They didn’t try to hit a single six. Extras helped but they also timed the ball well. They got to their first away win of this season with eight balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 155 for 5 in 18.4 over (Ishan Kishan 44, Kamindu Mendis 32*, Travis Head 19, Aniket Verma 19, Nitish Kumar Reddy 19*; Khaleel Ahmed 1-21, Anshul Kamboj 1-16, Noor Ahmad 2-42, Ravindra Jadeja 1-22) beat Chennai Super Kings 154 in 19.5 overs (Dewald Brevis 42, Ayush Mhatre 30, Ravindra Jadeja 21,Shivam Dube 12, Deepak Hooda 22; Mohammad Shami 1-28, Harshal Patel 4-28, Pat Cummins 2-21,Jaydev Unadkat 2-21, Kamindu Mendis 1-26) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
D. S. Senanayake College proudly hosted its rugby jersey ceremony and sponsor felicitation on April 22 at the college premises, marking a significant event in the school’s sporting calendar.
The ceremony was held in the presence of distinguished guests, with Ifthikar Wahid gracing the occasion as the chief guest, and Firaz Fazi attending as the guest of honour. Both were warmly welcomed by the college principal, staff, and the rugby fraternity.
This year, the D. S. Senanayake are led by Lankesh Wickramasinghe, with Rasindu Bandara and Methila Peiris serving as vice-captains. The event not only highlighted the team’s commitment and preparation for the season ahead but also underscored the importance of sportsmanship and unity.
In addition to the jersey presentation, the event recognized and appreciated the invaluable contributions of the team’s sponsors, whose continued support plays a crucial role in the development and success of rugby at the college.The ceremony concluded with words of encouragement from the dignitaries and a strong sense of anticipation for a successful rugby season.
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