Sports
Killi; Sri Lanka’s Mr.Cricket
Personal recollections of a great benefactor: Mr. R. Rajamahendran
by Sidath Wettimuny
I embarked on my working life towards the end of 1976. I had to decide between two offers – one from The Maharaja Organisation (‘MO’), and one from Ceylon Tobacco. I opted to join Maharaja’s, especially because my brother Mithra was an accountant there and as I was not keen to work for a company that sold cigarettes.
I went to work with great excitement looking forward to an induction of sorts. To this date, I smile when I think of that unique briefing I received from Mr. E.C. Baha, the then Assistant to the Managing Directors, Mr. Maharaja and Mr. Rajamahendran (‘Killi’ to most, but always ‘Sir’ to me). It was short, sharp and to the point.
‘Sidath, you can cut work. But do not cut cricket practices. You will be in serious trouble!, Mr. Baha declared. Highly amused, I left the meeting and got down to work at Maharaja’s.
Mercantile cricket was serious business, and the MO team was the team to contend with at the Mercantile tournament. Our team was star studded with many Sri Lankan national players. Prior to every match, Killi gave us a briefing. Besides strategizing, he inculcated and instilled in us the importance of being professional in our attitude. He always stressed that the difference between an amateur and a professional was that of attitude and approach to the game. This advice, no doubt, progressively made us better players.
During this period, there was a popular belief that playing in the League in England would provide our budding national players valuable experience and exposure, especially to different types of wickets. I was one of the many beneficiaries to be sponsored by Killi to play a season of League Cricket in the North of England.
I will never forget my introduction to England!
After a long and tiring Aeroflot flight, via Moscow, I landed in the UK and had the most bizarre and horrendous experience. The immigration queue was very long and two of the cricketers who flew in with me, Tony Opatha and Anura Ranasinghe, had gone through ahead of me. Due to a misunderstanding about the purpose of my visit, I ended up spending almost 24 hours at the immigration waiting room.
At the point of deep despair, fearing I could be sent back, I was utterly relieved to see the figure of Killi striding towards me. He chuckled and informed me that he had been in Austria, heard of my detention, and took the next flight to London, to sign a bond and get me released. I had tears pouring down my face as I walked out beside him. Yet again, thanks to him I was able to experience and enjoy my first season of League Cricket during the summer.
In the following years, the MO supported and sponsored many aspiring and already selected Sri Lankan national players, including giants like Duleep Mendis and Roy Dias, to play League Cricket in the UK. Killi was totally focused on ensuring that we cricketers developed our skills, and gained experience in the game at a more professional level of cricket. He strongly believed that our skills matched that of any other nation, but what we lacked was a professional attitude. He gave us the impetus and motivation to think and dream big about what we can achieve as national cricketers. Killi employed and supported nearly 100 national cricketers– a statistic unmatched by any other organization or individual. His contribution to cricket in Sri Lanka cannot be quantified!!
Another unforgettable incident I had with him was when I was sitting for my ACCA Part II examination. I found it hard to balance the hours of cricket with my studies. I had a lot of pressure from home to secure my accountancy qualification. When my boss refused a request for study leave, I had to make a decision on whether to continue working and playing cricket, or to leave and focus on accountancy studies. I appealed to Killi, as I grappled with this decision. I recall meeting him and his brother in the MO Boardroom where, dressed in his typical dapper style, he was standing behind his chair. On hearing my predicament, he told me ‘I say, may I give you some advice? I can find ten accountants down the road, but if you do something for your country as a national cricketer, I will value you more. You will have greater opportunities in the future.’
Those words of advice stayed with me and comforted me as I kept postponing my studies. In the meantime, cricket took centre stage in my life. To date, I am extremely grateful for Killi’s words of wisdom, as even the business that I currently am in was initiated through my cricket contacts in the UK, after I stopped playing cricket.
The spirit of cricket at the MO was very special. In the early 1980s, a one-off ‘Super Tournament’, comprising winners of the different tournaments, was held in a very competitive atmosphere. The MO qualified as the winners of the Mercantile Tournament. Duleep and I were in a peculiar situation, as we were playing for the MO against our own Club, the SSC. Sunil and Mithra, who were stalwarts of the SSC team, teased us about how the SSC would thrash the MO team. Their continuous teasing made us determined to score. At the match, Duleep and I both made hundreds and helped secure a win for the MO…much to the chagrin of my two brothers!
When the powerful combination of Hon. Gamini Dissanayake and Killi took over the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka their invaluable contribution and tireless efforts helped Sri Lanka gain Test status. Even in this aspect Killi’s contribution to cricket in Sri Lanka was huge!
Before our historic maiden cricket tour of England in 1984, Killi sponsored five national players to go ahead of the team to London. He arranged for practices at the Lord’s indoor facilities, which gave us the opportunity to play a practice match for an MCC team. I have no doubt that this initial exposure helped us to build our confidence and to cope with our maiden Test at Lord’s.
I’m certain gratitude and tributes to Mr. Killi Rajamahendran from all the cricketers who had the privilege of knowing him, will be endless. Behind his tough exterior was a heart of gold; we are all hearing more and more of his generosity to many, on many fronts.
One regret I personally have is when, in 2015, while Chairing the Interim Committee of SLC, I was very keen to name all the Hospitality Boxes at the Khettarama Stadium with the names of personalities who significantly contributed to the game of cricket.
The first two boxes were to be named after Hon. Gamini Dissanayake and Mr Rajamahendran. However, due to the premature departure of that Interim Committee, this naming did not happen. It would have been appropriate to name a box after Mr. Rajamahendran, the single largest benefactor to Sri Lankan Cricket. In any event, in my opinion, Mr. Rajamahendran will always be Sri Lanka’s ‘Mr. Cricket’.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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