Nimesh Fernando – an MVP in the making
Nimesh Fernando dunks in one of the games
Defending champions Sri Lanka at a match against host Bangladesh at the recently-concluded South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship were trailing until the fourth and the final quarter.
In the dying moments of the game, visiting team’s Nimesh Fernando, netted 24 points propelling them to beat the home side. He discreetly and delicately disclosed the two dozen points scored by him averted their second loss.
Fernando, by being instrumental in ensuring the defending champions before the tournament suffered only one loss, exemplified that he is a player placing and prioritising team first and his personal goals next.
“No big ambitions like that. Only personal goals as a player to become better,” he said when asked whether he would like to become the captain.
The outing against the Bangladesh turned out to be an eventful encounter for enough reasons. The islanders beating them in the nick of time, Fernando scoring his highest points (24) at a match and the six-feet-two-inch tall cager emerging as the saviour for his side from losing another game. Fernando, having scored 38 points, the most by a Sri Lankan in the competition, has been the highlight for his squad in his maiden SABA Championship.
However, he does rue the team failing to defend their title, when they only finished as runners-up.
“Yes, I was expecting a better performance,” the centre and power forward for the national team reflected and regretted adding that the unit has to buck up and brush up in offence and defence.
Self assessing him he identified – strength, conditioning, overall shooting and defence – is where his improvement lies. The team, selected to play for the FIBA tournament, in their next main assignment come June, is now practising individually and with their clubs, and the 24-year-old may have local tournaments in the run up to their next main assignment.
The Colombo Basketball Club cager, apart from the fast-moving gamer, is also an athlete taking part in 100m and 200m events in track and field. However, he admitted his heart belongs to the stylish game of basketball, which he enjoys playing and shaped him to become a lot better person.
A staffer and a player for DFCC for one and a half years now, playing as a centre for them, also credited the bank for rendering a big hand.
Explaining how he landed in basketball between cricket, athletics and this game, he explained, “I took to basketball exactly in 2010, when there was a tournament in my school, De La Salle College. I saw elderly boys at action and followed suit in joining them. I first broke into the SL Under-18 side in 2014 for a tournament against the neighbouring nation. Both in 2014 and 2015, I played for the Sri Lanka schools before I went onto feature for mercantile teams and earning notable performances,” he said in conclusion.