| Sports |
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| Tharanga Paranavitana – The new kid on the block |
| By Maxie Kariyawasam |
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| Tharanga Paranavitana |
Tharanga Paranavitana who left with the Sri Lankan main contingent on their Test tour of Pakistan yesterday, was blessed with extraordinary talent as a batsman right from his early days playing the gentleman's game of cricket at a very impressionable age.
Paranavithana was an automatic choice for the opener’s berth when the national selectors took the decision to drop out of form Michael Vandort for this tour.
This rural youth of St. Mary's Kegalle was drawn to cricket like a moth to a flame. That he outshined his counterparts in the urban areas is now history, from 1988 to 2001 he was to be a distinguished member of his Alma Mater where he captained the school's team’s right from the U-13 to the U-19 1st XI team. A classy left hand bat and a right arm off break bowler Tharanga showed by his consistent performances that some day he would reach the highest level and walk into the Sri Lankan team.
A notable milestone in his school career was that from 1999 to 2001 he accumulated over 1000 runs every season which would be the envy of any schoolboy cricketer. In his last year 2001, he went on to score a mind-boggling seven (7) centuries with highest of 200 odd against Horana Taxila M.V. His achievements during his tenure at school sent a very strong and vibrant message that Tharanga was someone out of the ordinary with a promise of greater things to follow.
On leaving school, he joined the Sinhalese Sports Club where he went from strength to strength being their most consistent batsman since appearing for the club in 2001/2002, scoring 4833 runs in 78 matches averaging 43.15 per innings slamming a career best score of 238 followed by another mammoth innings of 232 against C.C.C.
In the 2007 season. Turning to 1 day cricket Tharanga was to post 1907 runs in 59 innings at a respectable average of 38.14 with his highest being 116 n.o. against Badureliya C.C. His club recognized his capabilities when they made him the Captain of their premier league team for the recently concluded season which saw the S.S.C. being piped into 2nd place by Colts C.C. who went on to win the championship.
This new kid on the block is one who is loaded with great talent and brilliance having all the strokes in the book. |
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