‘Airtel Fastest’ alumni on LPL selections
Eshan Malinga, who was the overall winner of the Airtel Fastest contest with his unique sling-arm bowling action and Rathnaraja Thenurathan, who reached the finals of the contest represented Colombo Strikers and Jaffna Kings in the 2023 season of the Lanka Premier League (LPL).
The Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest contest which was launched in 2019 with 10,000 participants from over 11 districts. With a select pool of 145 bowlers, the competition progressed through its different levels while asserting a 360-degree approach to hone the full potential of these fast bowlers.
From their first health and fitness screenings, to on-site training camps and even their very first strength and conditioning sessions, the fast bowlers advanced through the competition under the guidance of Airtel’s superstar coaching team comprising of Anusha Samaranayake, legendary, Lasith Malinga, together with icons of the Sri Lankan game, Chaminda Vaas, Hashan Tilakaratne and Upul Chandana.
“When we launched Airtel Fastest, back in 2019, we wanted to take this mission a step further, by creating a national platform to uncover, showcase and hone Sri Lanka’s most promising pace bowling talent. Since then, we have watched with pride as our contestants went on to represent teams both locally and globally. We take this opportunity to wish both Eshan and Thenuruthan our warmest congratulations and the best of luck in the upcoming tournament,” Airtel Lanka CEO and MD, Ashish Chandra stated.
In addition to Eshan and Thenuruthan, two more alumni of the Airtel Fastest contest had previously gone on to compete at some of the highest levels of the game. This included winner of the ‘Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest’ Female Open category winner and fellow sling-bowling prodigy Shayani Senarathna, having represented Sri Lanka at the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Teams Asia Cup.