Hello Madras, ‘ai api kaluda?’ 

by Rex Clementine

Young fast bowling sensation Mathesha Pathirana is rocking India. His deadly death over bowling efforts for Chennai Super Kings had made him an overnight sensation last season. Madras fans are beginning to love him even more this season after he blew away arch-rivals Mumbai Indians with a four-wicket haul during Sunday’s double header.

Such was his impact at Wankhede on Sunday that it felt unreal. Coming on to bowl the eighth over of the innings, he had a wicket off the first ball when Ishan Kishan hit it straight to mid-wicket. Then he picked up the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav, who was dismissed for a second ball duck. The pace was too much that he couldn’t clear third man.

Then as a partnership was building he came back to dismiss Tilak Varma and finally he cleaned up West Indies marvel Romario Shepherd. Wankhede was silenced. In recent times, not often Sri Lankans have gone to Mumbai and covered themselves in glory.

Pathirana no doubt has become a household name in Madras. It is funny. The Sri Lankan cricket team is considered persona non grata in the south Indian city, but they don’t mind Sri Lankan players winning matches for their franchise  – Chennai Super Kings.

It is a fact that the Sri Lankan team hasn’t played a game in Madras for 20 years now.

Time was when Sri Lankan teams made regular visits to Madras. Obviously in the good old days there was the Gopalan Trophy.

After being granted Test status in 1981, every time Sri Lanka went to India, a game in Madras was a must. The team was well received and old timers still talk about the batting feats of Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis. Rumesh Ratnayake and Ashantha de Mel with their fast-bowling exploits are quite popular too.

Mendis obviously is best remembered for his hundreds in each innings in the Madras Test of 1982.

The sub-continent has put up a grand show in hosting World Cups. The 1987, 1996 and 2011 showpiece events of the sport were jointly hosted by the Asian neighbours. But in the last World Cup, India wanted to go solo. With Sri Lanka scheduled to play nine games in the competition, many thought that Madras will get a game.

But not to be so. The organizers felt trouble for the Sri Lankan team in Madras and were happy to slot two games each for them in Bangalore, Lucknow and Delhi. Pune, Hyderabad and Bombay hosted a game each.

Some people who are aware of how things work believe that the Sri Lankan boycott has got nothing to do with the fans of Madras. It is a few politicians who are trying to create trouble. They always do. Much ado about nothing is their pass time. Look at the hue and cry they made about Kachchatheevu recently.

As for Pathirana, not just Madras, the entire cricketing world will celebrate his match winning feats come the World Cup. It is one thing to play bowlers with that kind of awkward actions. It is quite another to counter that kind of pace. He is going to get noticed in the Caribbean and United States when the World Cup comes.