The rapid rise of a young star that caught the attention at Holy cross, Praveen Jayawickrama was recognized as a prospect for the future at St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa.
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Like many of us, Praveen’s first memory of playing cricket was with his brothers in his backyard at home. From there, he went to an academy and that was where is all began.
As a youngster, Praveen took up bowling spin from an early stage and has not looked back since then.
He recalls his performances in the junior cricket category, saying, “I remember I used to manage to take about two wickets each game, and in the 2014 under 15 Provincial cricket tournament I won the best bowler award”
Having been impressive at Holy Cross, Praveen got the call up to St. Sebastian’s College and duly obliged joining the latter with hopes of making it big in the cricketing arena. Speaking about the positive impact of the move, he said, “unfortunately as a team, Holy Cross aren’t top dogs but here at St. Sebastian’s as a team we are in a very good place and because of that when we perform, players’ performances are taken note of. I think that’s just the reason why I got selected to the junior national team in less than a year of joining St. Sebastian’s”
When asked about his performances at Holy Cross, Praveen said, “I started to play when i was 14, in my first year (2012/13) I managed 17 wickets, second year 52 and in my third year i managed 65 wickets. On average, we played about 13 matches per season over there.”
Following the switch to St. Sebastian’s, Praveen managed an extraordinary tally of 89 wickets in the past season (2015/16). Unsurprisingly his best figures were also in the same season “in the 15/16 season I picked up 8/81 against Thurstan College in one innings, that’s my personal best”
Jayawickrama is an avid follower of spin king Muttiah Muralitharan and has always seen him as a role model. Even though Murali is a right arm off spinner, totally different to the style of Praveen’s bowling, he does not let that worry him “I really like Murali, the way he bowls. The variations, he is my inspiration”
With wickets flowing his way, he managed a call up to the National Under 19 squad and continued his ascent in the national colours as well. “My best performance at this level was against Bangladesh in the Asia cup where I picked 4/25 and against South Africa where I managed 4/24”
Having had the chance to tour England with the under 19 national team and end the tour successfully with a serie win, we took a moment to reflect on the success in England “We were very happy, no team had managed such a series win so we were ecstatic with the win and very proud that we did manage to bring such an honor to our mother land”
His under 19 stats continued to improve as the left arm spinner was the highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka in the recently concluded Asia Cup, “I took 10 wickets and was the highest wicket taker in the team. Although we didn’t win, it was a fairly good tournament for us”
Taking a moment away from cricket, we asked him how he manages his studies along with sports, to which Praveen replied that although he spends more time outside the classroom than in it, he works hard enough on his studies and tries not to neglect them.
With the Under 19 World Cup in 2018 around the corner, Praveen has set his sights firmly on firstly making it into the squad. “My aim is to firstly to perform well in the upcoming under 19 games, then play well in the school season and be in good shape and touch for next year’s World Cup”.
Finally Praveen took a moment not forgetting to thank everyone for the support he has received throughout “First i would like to thank my mom, ever since i lost my dad she has been my strength and my support. Also my brother and other family member have provided vital support towards my cricket. Next all my coaches, past and present, they have always given their knowledge to me and I am ever so thankful for that”
