Often parents of children who dedicate more time to sports than they should, warn that tough times are ahead for them in life if they don’t end up with good grades in exams. It is true to a certain extent but sports, especially team sports, teach your children far more than what is taught in class rooms.
Looking at the Lanka Premier League auction early this week, now children can argue that engaging in sports is not a lost cause all the time. Look at Dilshan Madushanka. He is barely a household name, but he’s become the most expensive player in the auction, having been sold for a sum of US$ 92,000 (more than 28 million LKR). Not even the great Aravinda de Silva had an annual contract with SLC to the tune of US$ 92,000.
Talking of that amount of money, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan and less than handful of Sri Lankan cricketers would have fetched an annual retainer to that tune from SLC.
But here’s Madushanka, who has barely made a name for himself and he goes onto fetch the highest bid in the auction after crazy bidding by Jaffna and Galle. What it tells us is that he’s been highly rated by the cricket community who are fully aware of his potential to run through the top order with the new ball.
That is why him getting the cold shoulder for the World Cup Qualifiers is shocking. The only people who don’t seem to agree that he should be in the squad are the selectors.
What’s more puzzling is that West Indies and Zimbabwe, whom Sri Lanka will meet in the second round have traditionally had trouble against left-arm swing bowling. Chaminda Vaas’ feats against both those opponents is testimony to this.
Hailing from the rural fishing village of Hungama, Madushanka learned the game at Vijayabahu Central in the Hambantota District, a school that is rarely known for excelling in cricket.
SLC’s district and provincial coaches need to be commended for the manner in which they identify rare talents and groom them. Madushanka is not the only quick to emerge from deep down south as we have others like Kasun Rajitha and Pramod Madushan, both from Hambantota district.
Vaas spoke about Madushanka five years ago when the kid was 17-years-old. He has not done anything significant yet but that inswinger to Virat Kohli that uprooted the former Indian captain’s stumps during the Asia Cup is indication what is to follow. Wasim Akram, the sultan of swing, was quick to appreciate what he saw in Dubai last year.
Head Coach Chris Silverwood too has spoken highly of Madushanka, praising his work ethic and excellent attitude and he has predicted a bright future for the 22-year-old.
People would have spoken a lot more about Madushanka had he not broken down last year during the T20 World Cup. The Sri Lankan team was pinning their hopes on their fast-bowling unit on the hard and bouncy surfaces of Australia but soon the wheels started coming off with a quick injured and returning home every game.
Madushanka had fallen off the pecking order after the recent tour to New Zealand, but he’s right back given his excellent exploits against South Africa ‘A’ where he was the standout performer claiming nine wickets in the ODI series and featuring prominently in the victory in the first unofficial Test.
The LPL has become a hit among the fans although it had failed to reach its full potential as it was worked out during the peak of COVID pandemic. But now with all restrictions off, the grounds should be packed with spectators. The interest has been always huge on television. But all that will go up by a few folds following the successful auction. This is the first time the LPL had an auction and fans followed what was going on with keen interest and that will spiral up when the event gets underway.
Madushanka wasn’t the only surprise buy, having started at a base price of US$ 20,000. Another young player with immense potential Charith Asalnka fetched US$ 80,000.
Binura Fernando became the third most expensive at US$ 76,000 surprising many people. Seems that franchises are banking heavily on left-arm swing this season.
Then of course there’s Dinesh Chandimal, whose T20 days are over you would have thought but he walked away with a cool sum of US$ 72,000.
Early this year, Dhananjaya de Silva was thrown out of the white ball team on flimsy grounds but the LPL auction is further proof that he should be very much a part of the side given his ability to send down tidy off-spin. Most Sri Lankan batsmen are one dimensional these days and DDS gives you that extra option. And of course, there is his calming influence in the middle order.
