Kaushalya cricketer with potential

[ Kaushalya Weeraratne ]

* Born: January 29, 1981, Gampola

* Current age: 29 years

* School attended: Trinity College Kandy

* Major teams: Sri Lanka Under-19, Sri Lanka, Bloomfield, Colts Cricket Club, Kandurata, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Ragama Cricket Club

* Batting style: Left hand bat

* Bowling style: Right arm medium fast

* One day International debut: v Bangladesh at Dhaka, 2000

* Last one day International: v India at Karachi, 2008

* Twenty20 debut: v Pakistan at King City 2008

* Last Twenty20: v India at Mohali 2009

* First class debut: 1999

* First class matches: 86

* Runs: 3059

* Highest Score: 135

* Average: 26.37 n 100’s: 2 n 50’s: 15

* Catches: 39 n Wickets: 224

* Best Figures: 6 for 47

* Average: 25.13

* Five wickets in an innings: 5

[ How he fared in the Inter Provincial one day tournament: ]

* 48 in 46 balls v Basnahira North at Colts, 73 in 60 balls and one wicket for 32 in 7 overs v Basnahira South, 27 in 35 balls and 2 for 18 in 6 overs v SLC Combined XI at NCC, 5 in 5 balls and 0 for 6 in 1 over v Ruhuna at Galle Stadium, 143 in 158 balls and DNB v Wayamba at Pallekelle, 67 n.o in 61 balls and 1 for 32 in 7 overs v Wayamba (semifinal) at NCC, 8 in 16 balls and 1 for 35 in 5 overs v Ruhuna (final) at Moratuwa Stadium.

He had the talent and the potential to make it to the highest level after completing a highly successful inter school career as a top all rounder at Trinity College Kandy.

But a series of injuries and lack of form at some crucial stages put him on the back foot once again. After years of hard work and having remodeled his bowling

action successfully Kaushalya Weeraratne is now back on the right path towards becoming one of the most exciting all rounders in World cricket.

The twenty nine year old left hander from Kandurata Province showed signs of taking the game into a new dimension by performing the new role as an opening batsman quite effectively which helped him to clinch the prestigious Man of the Tournament award at the recently concluded Bank of Ceylon Inter Provincial one day tournament.

Weeraratne also carried away the award for the Most Number of Sixes in the tournament which is a clear indication of his tremendous batting prowess in the recent past. After a series of disappointing games he is now determined than ever before and is well on course towards regaining his place in the Sri Lanka one day and Twenty20 teams.

The manner in which he has collected his runs in the recent past has really been outstanding with the field restrictions during the early stages of the innings and the power play overs helping a great deal to accomplish his task.

The best innings certainly came in the match against Wayamba where he hammered or actually plundered a magnificent 143 runs from 158 deliveries studded with three sixes and 16 boundaries at the Pallekelle Stadium.

The other notable performances with the bat has been his run a ball 73 against Basnahira South at Moratuwa and a match winning unbeaten half century against Wayamba in the semifinals at the NCC ground in Maitland Place.

The most significant aspect in his batting is that he had faced less number of deliveries and as a result he has maintained an excellent strike rate which is just under the one hundred point mark. Altogether he accumulated a total of 371 runs from seven matches at an average of 61.83.

In the bowling department he has responded magnificently while picking up important wickets and providing good support to the rest of his teammates. Weeraratne is of course privileged to have played under the guidance of Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara who was instrumental in taking Kandurata towards the Inter Provincial title.

In fact it was under the influence of Sangakkara that Weeraratne decided to open the batting although he had performed a similar role in some of the Under 19 World Cup matches as well as for his club team NCC in the Premier tournament.

Even then this was a huge challenge for Weeraratne and probably his last chance to make a lasting impression in his attempt to steal the limelight. He was up against some of the best in the scene but was equal to the task and was determined to make the maximum from the opportunities.

He had a promising start and raced to 48 from 46 deliveries against Basnahira North in their opening fixture of the tournament at the Colts CC ground in Havelock Park. And from there onwards he has moved in a positive frame of mind and has lived up to expectations as an exciting stroke maker.

In the beginning of course his bowling was much stronger than his batting and had delivered some fantastic spells while representing the Sri Lanka Under-19 team.

Incidentally he had a very successful series at home where he captured 12 wickets at an average of 13 in the 2000 Under-19 World Cup where Sri Lanka emerged runners up to India.

This was immediately after he had completed a successful school career where he had the distinction of captaining all age group teams at Trinity College Kandy. In fact he led the First Eleven team twice in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

He was a good rugby player as well at school but decided to stick with cricket and made it a career prospect.

In his first year as the captain he hit a splendid 148 in the Big Match against their traditional rivals St. Anthony’s College Katugastota. He followed up this with a six wicket haul in the annual one day encounter against the same opponents and in the same year.

He was immediately earmarked as a genuine all rounder who could reach the highest standard and later had the honour of leading the Sri Lanka Under-19 team to a Test series triumph in England.

However tragedy struck unfortunately as he broke his finger while playing in New Zealand and was out of the game for nearly eight months in 2000. When he was well set to re launch his career he suffered another blow and fractured his left hand in 2003.

Thereafter it was really tough going for Weeraratne who had to be consistent with both bat and ball to cement his place in the national team having made his one day international debut in the Asia Cup against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2000.

Since then he had made his appearance in 15 one dayers and in five Twenty20 internationals for his country. He was of course among the reserves in the 2008 Asia Cup final against India but the scenes will always be in his mind where Sri Lanka emerged champions at the National Stadium in Karachi.