Sports
Lakvijaya’s achievement a giant stride for an athlete from cooperate sector
How deleting game apps, rare cooperate sector backing, golden rendezvous of a coach powered Lakvijaya to a national record
By Reemus Fernando
When Janindu Induwara Lakvijaya clocked 13.82 seconds to win the second heat of the men’s 110 metre hurdles at the Selection Trial held at Diyagama last week, the former St. Peter’s College athlete not only established a national record but also earned himself and his employer, a special place in the annals of the country’s track and field history.
Spectators and the athlete himself did not know immediately that a new national record had been established as the time display board did not function at the time. “I felt that I had run a good race but did not know it until my training partner Ariyaratne checked the electronic time with the photo finish judges,” said the 22-year-old who is only the second Sri Lankan to have broken the 14 seconds barrier on legal time calculations.
National Records are not often renewed. The 110 metres hurdles national record (14.00) of Olympian Mahesh Perera had remained unchanged for 24 years until Sri Lanka Army’s Roshan Ranatunga shattered it in 2021 with a time of 13.89 seconds. It was that record that Lakvijaya erased last week. A majority of the country’s national track and field records are held by athletes attached to the tri forces as these institutions recruit prospective athletes when they leave school. A few of the national records are also held by Sri Lankan athletes studying and training overseas.
Not many private sector institutions have come to nurture future prospects in athletics after cricket’s success at the global stage in the late 90s swayed leading companies to employ cricketers in a big way. It was a rare opportunity for Lakvijaya to get employment at a private firm where he could persevere as an athlete. “I received the backing of one of the old boys of St. Peter’s Mr. Roshan Abeygoonawardena to get employment at CDB where I received the support of the whole staff. I am given easy working hours so that I could both train and work. That is a huge benefit for me. From my boss to everyone there back me. There is a young staff who are always supportive,” said Lakvijaya.
A record only a few saw coming
With reigning national record holder Roshan Ranatunga not competing in the meet, a record was the least expected outcome in the men’s 110 metres hurdles. Lakvijaya had run many a race but in the spectators’ eyes he was yet to establish himself as the pretender to the record. But his coach, the Asian Games medallist Asoka Jayasundara was waiting for the opportunity for years. “He has the potential to do that. It is only a matter of time. The day he takes this event seriously, Lakvijaya will improve the record,” the former hurdler Jayasundara would often tell scribes.
Golden rendezvous of coach and athlete
Lakvijaya commenced his athletics at Dharmaloka College, Kelaniya. During his teenage years he also had the freedom to compete even in combat sports. His father a former 1,500 metres athlete had encouraged him to persevere in a sport that he liked the most. It was in the year 2015, during a visit to Dr. Lal Ekanayake of the Sports Medical Unit to obtain medical advice that Lakvijaya was influenced to come under the supervision of Jayasundara. Since then the former hurdler had been motivating Lakvijaya to take up the discipline seriously.
Dananjaya Ariyaratne the best training partner
Having come under the supervision of Jayasundara, Lakvijaya also found an ideal training partner in Dananjaya Ariyaratne. “Ariyaratne is the best training partner that I ever had. He is good-hearted, he use to bring me homemade lunch and gives me support even during competitions. He also motivates me to do well. In fact, it was Ariyaratne who put ice before the competition when he had got to compete. I am lucky to have had a training partner like him,” said Lakvijaya.
Competition with former record holder Ranatunga
With the former record holder, Roshan Ranatunga set to return to competitions soon rather than later Sri Lanka can witness history’s two fastest 110 metre hurdlers competing together. That is something that excites Lakvijaya who looks forward to the prospect. “Competing together will certainly boost the speed. That will be good for both of us. Though I have established a new national record we are still lagging behind the Asian standards. It will be on us now to improve the record further.” Ranatunga was still recovering from an injury when Sri Lanka Athletics conducted the First Selection Trial at Diyagama.
Asked about the sacrifices that he had to make to achieve the national record, Lakvijaya said that doing away with computer games was one of the toughest. “I love to play computer games. But when I realized that it takes precious resting time I decided to give them up. I deleted all games apps from my phone. That was one of the keys to my success.”
Lakvijaya had a long list to thank from his parents, coach, employer, and training partner to Sri Lanka Army’s physiotherapist Lalith who has helped on his way to achieving the national record.
Lakvijaya has found an ideal training partner in Dananjaya Ariyaratne
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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