No regrets – Jeevantha Kulatunga
Jeevantha Kulatunga
Sri Lanka has a proud cricket history and with the 1996 World Cup triumph, Island nation became one of the formidable teams in the world. Similarly post-1996 era was a phase where a player needed the combination of talent and a bit of luck to get into the national team.
Jeevantha Kulatunga is one such example, who had the talent, dedication and attitude but ran out of luck to prosper at international level.
Kulatunga’s cricketing journey began at an early age. He always wanted to represent the country and his father Hettiarachchi Gamage Kulatunga, who captained Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala, was his main source of motivation to be a professional cricketer.
“My father took me to watch school and club matches in Kurunegala. Gradually my enthusiasm grew and then I was determined to play for the national team and eventually my dream became a reality,” Kulatunga recalled, while speaking to the Sunday Times.
Kulatunga praised his family for supporting him throughout his career and the sacrifices they made to fulfil his dream of representing the national team. A proud product of Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala, the gutsy batsman grew under the guidance of Rohan Weerasooriya, who taught him the basics of the game. He was a consistent run scorer in all age groups, and was an easy pick for the Under-19 national cricket team.
“I was captain and vice-captain of the school team in all age groups. In 1991 I became the All-Island Best All-rounder. At the age of 14, I represented the Under-19 team and played in the team for six years. Leading up to the years that I was picked for the Sri Lanka Under-19 team. I scored 1,000 runs and took 60 plus wickets in 1992. Then I was picked for the youth tours of Singapore and Malaysia. I played alongside some great players such as Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Russell Arnold, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Avishka Gunawardane, Indika de Saram and Saman Jayantha,” he recalled with pride.
The exposure he got from school cricket enabled him to excel for the Under-19 national team.
“As juniors we played to win matches for the school and did not have much competition. The exposure I got from playing school cricket enabled me to prosper at national level,” he said.
In 1993 Kulatunga made his First Class debut for Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club against Colts Cricket Club. A reward for being prolific at school cricket, he was one of youngest cricketers to make his First Class debut at the age of 17.
The debut was a memorable one for Kulatunga, who scored a half century to help Kurunegala YCC defeat the formidable Colts. That same year he joined the club which he played against on his First Class debut, and went on to play for Colts for 12 years. Having played First Class cricket for two decades, he expressed his thoughts on the standard of domestic cricket in Sri Lanka.
“I don’t think that there is a huge gap between the standard of cricket that is being played at domestic level. In our days we had passion and we always wanted our team to win. It’s hard to compare the present generation to my generation. We just have to encourage the next generation to perform at their best. That is what our coaches said during our early years at the domestic level,” he explained.
In 2002 he began playing League Cricket in the United Kingdom and went on to play for 10 more years. Starting from Northern Ireland to England’s Lancashire, Yorkshire and Manchester, he emphasised the significance of playing in England during the local off season, which enhanced his fitness and technique. Additionally, he played with top class cricketers around the world.
In 2003 he captained Colts CC, and his leadership lasted for three whole seasons to come. The appointment was purely due to his consistent performances, as he enjoyed being the captain of a formidable team. After playing five years of domestic cricket he earned a call up to the national team at the age of 34. However, his international career lasted only for two games.
“I got my first international opportunity to play against Canada in Canada at the age of 34. This was after T20 cricket was introduced to the world,” he said.
“I believe it was hard for me to get into Test cricket at that time, because Sri Lanka had a strong lineup in Tests. Therefore, I cannot blame any selector or captain for not getting a Test call-up. I was not bothered whether they picked me or not. For me it was about playing the game. However, I was not sure, why they could not slot me into the one-day format. I believe that the T20 format gave me the freedom to play according to my instincts and as a result I got my opportunity. I continued to perform well and got the media backing also. I think I am privileged, compared to many players that got the national cap. I have no regrets,” he said.
Even though he had to end his international career prematurely, he continued to dominate in the domestic arena. In 2010, he scored the fastest 100 by a Sri Lankan in domestic T20 cricket, and he is the only player to score a double hundred in the Mercantile 50-over tournament. He is the only Sri Lankan to have a strike rate of over 100 in all three formats in domestic cricket.
However, soon after he decided to hang up his boots from all forms of cricket.
After his retirement, he always craved to take up a coaching position. In 2013 he was appointed as the Head Coach of the Sri Lanka women’s cricket team for two years. Currently Kulatunga is the Head Coach for Western Province school cricket.
“Now my responsibility is to nurture the next generation of players to the national team. We always had talent, but we have to manage our players very carefully. That is important. My advice to the future generation is to play without the fear of failure and I think my story shows you that talent is not the only thing you need to play international cricket. You need to work hard to achieve your dreams,” he said.