Sachithra awaiting national call

Dilanka MANNAKKARA

Sri Lanka has never been short of spinners, but some outperform others with their skill, commitment, dedication and sometimes luck. Sachithra Senanayake who won the Best Bowlers Award in the Provincial One Day tournament, was also the highest wicket taker in the Provincial Twenty/20 tournament surpassing big guns Murali, Thushara, Randiv, Welagedara and Mendis.

He is a prolific off spinner who is accurate, extremely skillful and talented and even with his outstanding performances in the Provincial tournament, he was unfortunate enough not to be selected for the national side for the Twenty/20 World Cup in the Caribbean. He has proved from time to time that his match winning bowling performances cannot be overlooked by the authorities as he has been a regular member of the Sri Lanka 'A' side and has been itching the selectors to include him in the national side.

His recent performance against Wayamba in the ongoing Provincial four day tournament proved that he is no mug with the bat as well as he scored a whirlwind 89 runs for Ruhuna batting at number 9 and was the last man to be dismissed. Sachitra continued his outstanding bowling form by capturing 8 wickets in the two innings including the key wickets of Sri Lankan players Mahela Udawatta, Michael Vandort and Wayamba skipper Jehan Mubarak which led Ruhuna in to victory.

Sachithra had an unusual beginning to his cricketing career as he started off as a long jumper and was placed third in the all Island event and joined Ananda College for his Long Jump capabilities. He was introduced to soft ball cricket by his Uncle Sisaru and then he took a surprise liking towards cricket and gave up on his first love, Athletics.

Sachithra who is a 6 footer started off his career as a fast bowler because of his natural height, but was introduced in to spin bowling by School coach P.W Perera.

He convinced me that with my high arm action and the strength of my fingers, I would have a competitive advantage over other Off Spinners and I am grateful for him," says Sachithra.

He further enhanced his skill in the spin academy by adding variety to his bowling under the watchful eyes of spin coach Piyal Wijethunga. SSC coach Avishka Gunawardena has also helped him immensely with his bowling and batting.

Career best knock

He scored a career best knock of 51 not out in the final of the Provincial one day tournament which came against a star studded Kandurata bowling line up comprising the likes of Champion spinner Murali, Suraj Randiv, Thushara and Dilhara Fernando. "have improved in my batting tremendously with the help of national coaches Romesh Kaluwitharana, Hathurusinghe and Anusha Samaranayake who made me bat against the bowling machine for hours," says a contented Sachithra." Ruhuna

 Captain Upul Tharanga and Coach Mahesh Weerasinghe had promoted Sachithra to the middle order and it has proved to be the turning point of his career.

"This was the opportunity I have been waiting for and I want to improve my batting further and to be recognized as an all rounder in the future as the National side's bench strength is very strong," says Sachithra mentioning his future goals.

Sachithra who has been performing well for his club SSC has taken over 50 wickets in the last three seasons and also won the Best Bowlers Award in the Premier League.

He came to the limelight with his outstanding bowling performances in the Provincial One Day tournament by capturing 14 scalps including the key wicket of Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara in the final, a wicket which he cherishes.

His frugal economy rate of 3.55 runs per over was simply amazing considering the fact that he was called by his captain to sometimes open the bowling as he did in the final. Being a tall off spinner combined with his high arm action Sachithra extracts extra bounce from the wicket and his fastish arm ball has got him a lot of wickets. "I concentrate a lot on line and length bowling and I like to play mind games with the batsman by out thinking him, I also use my doosra and arm ball to surprise the batsmen" said Sachithra mentioning the key to his success in the limited overs Provincial tournament.

Excellent performances

He continued his wonderful form in the ever challenging provincial Twenty/20 tournament by capturing 14 wickets with an unbelievable economy rate of 5.42, bowling during the power play slog overs. This economy rate was easily the best among bowlers in the caliber of Murali, Mendis, Thushara, Dilhara Fernando and Suraj Randiv .

Although he has got a lot of wickets recently, taking 5 wickets in the Provincial One Day tournament in 2007 against Kandurata is his most memorable moment "I got the wickets of Sangakkara and Kapugedara in that match and I will never forget that moment"says a smiling Sachithra. Who has an action similar to Pakistan's Saqlain Mustaq exploits a batsman's weakness to take wickets.

He adores his childhood idol Murali and says that he would love to be a Murali one day." If I can even achieve half of what Murali has achieved, that would be a dream come true".

[Sachithra Senanayake]

* Full name: Senanayake Mudiyanselage Sachithra Madhushanka Senanayake

* Born: February 9, 1985, Colombo

* Age: 25 years

* Major teams: Ruhuna, Sinhalese Sports Club, Sri Lanka A

* Playing role: All-rounder

* Batting style: Right-hand bat

* Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

* Height: 6 ft 0 in

* Education: Ananda College

Batting and fielding averages Mat Inns Runs HS Ave 50 First-class 39 49 694 89 19.27 2 List A 44 22 254 51* 21.16 1 Twenty20 16 6 33 12 5.50 0 Bowling averages Mat Inns Runs Wkts BBI Ave Econ SR 5w 10 First-class 39 65 3968 195 8/117 20.34 2.85 42.8 14 2 List A 44 42 1233 72 5/59 17.12 3.86 26.5 1 0 Twenty20 16 16 341 26 3/16 13.11 5.77 13.6 0 0