My dear Kumar and the Team,
As I write this, I am not certain of the outcome of the game that will forever be the most important game of your career. But I do know that when this is read, that game would be over and its consequences known.
Really Kumar,that does not matter. What I would really want to do is congratulate you and the team on the dizzy heights you have reached and the fame you have brought to the country. It can be second only to the glory brought to the nation by that team of 1996.
I know you would have been only eighteen years old at that time but 1996 was an entirely different story. That was because until then, we only made up the numbers and even if we had won the odd match or two, no one really took us seriously.
They did so only at their peril but that realization came only in 1996 when Arjuna marshalled his troops to record what could still be considered Sri Lanka’s proudest moment in its sporting history, even if there have been a few other notable victories and medals that have come our way.
That victory was also special for a different reason. And that was because we were also in the midst of a war against terrorism and among daily bomb blasts and landmine explosions there was little else to smile about.
When Arjuna and his men won that Cup in 1996 that gave the country something to smile about. More importantly, I believe it made most people proud to be Sri Lankan once more and that perhaps was the more significant achievement. And some of that has rubbed off on your team too.
You would realize, Kumar that for the past month or so, Sri Lankans of all communities, religions, castes and creeds bothered not a bit about these differences. All they cared for was the score that you and your men made and whether you won or lost the matches that were being played.Work came to a standstill and traffic ground to a halt and the whole nation watched paralyzed as you and your boys in blue took the field against a different opposition every day. And what’s more, the games were being staged in our own backyard!
So, Kumar I hope you realize that what you have achieved is not only on the cricket field. Yes, you did get your centuries and Murali did bid a sad farewell to international cricket but you also succeeded in uniting a once divided nation to speak with one voice-regardless of how you performed.
That is an achievement that most people cannot attain-not even Presidents, Prime Ministers and other politicians. In fact, all that they succeeded in was in dividing people. You must therefore realize your responsibilities are immense-and not merely that of a cricketer.
It was also nice to see that now our national cricket team does not comprise players from a handful of schools and clubs in Colombo. How these players, from different regions and backgrounds blend with each other for the sake of the country should give us hope, Kumar.
It is not that you and the team didn’t have your share of problems. Even though you functioned well as a team, cricket in Sri Lanka is being run by an ‘interim’ committee for the past so many years and no less than a sports minister once called it one of the most corrupt institutions in the country.
I know these are not matters that you and your teammates deal with but it also makes your achievements in this tournament all the more remarkable because it means all of you have been able to keep your heads while those around you in the administration have been losing theirs.
The distance you went in the World Cup will undoubtedly bring you many rewards. There will be many offers that come your way and people will fall over each other trying to be friends with you and your mates.
I hope you and your colleagues in the team are mature enough to handle that kind of fame. I suppose it is alright to promote a mobile network every now and then as you and most of your colleagues do, but I also hope they will not fall prey to easy money and sacrifice their standards or values.
Thank you Kumar, both for the entertainment and the hope you gave the nation over the past month or so. It is something that those who experienced it will never forget and for that, we have to be grateful to you and your teammates. What can we say but ‘well done!’
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS-Perhaps the most illustrious old boy from your old school, Lakshman Kadiragamar was once told that attending Oxford was the ‘icing on the cake’ and he gently reminded everyone that while it may be so, the cake was baked at home. If you and your teammates can have that kind of humility after what you have achieved, then we can be truly proud of you, Kumar!
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