Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest winners enter national arena

Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest Female Open Category winner Shayani Senarathne, now representing Sri Lanka at the Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2019

Shayani Senarathna, winner of the Female Open Category of the Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest competition, has been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the inaugural ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2019, after she was included in the 15-member squad. Consecutively after their exposure into the world of cricket through the competition, six others from the top 14 next generation of Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest have now gone onto impacting the national arena of Sri Lankan cricket.

Dubbed as the female ‘Slinga Malinga’, Shayani Senarathna, who hails from Kandy, currently clocks a scorching speed of 104 km/h.  During the preliminary stages of Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest, the island-wide quest to discover Sri Lanka’s next generation of pace bowling talent, Shayani clocked a bowling speed of 88 km/h. Under the guidance of Sri Lanka’s former National Bowling Coach Anusha Samaranayake, Shayani improved her speed up to 98 km/h during the third round of the competition, where she was selected among the top 14 fast bowlers. 

The overall winner of Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest, Eshan Malinga, with a speed of 141km/h during the finals, is now selected to play for Colombo Cricket Club (CCC). Eshan, who is also known as “podi Malinga” began the competition with a speed of 131 km/h. Malindu Shehan, who won the Over 19 category with a speed of 140 km/h, has also been selected to play for the Burgher Recreational Club (BRC). His starting speed in the competition was 123 km/h.

Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest winner Eshan Malinga, now a part of CCC

Following their contemporaries from the top 14 finalists, Mohommed Fahim and Rsanjana Aravindu from the Over 19 category have now been selected to play for the Police Sports Club and the Tamil Union Club, respectively. Aravindu has also begun playing for the Sampath Bank Team, while Chiran Theikshana and Maleesha Duran from the Under 19 Category have been selected to play for the Burgher Recreation Club. 

Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest began in February with 10,000 participants from over 11 districts entering the competition from across the country at the initial trials. 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 musculoskeletal screening, 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, current Sri Lankan T20 captain and legendary death bowling sensation, Lasith Malinga, together with icons of the Sri Lankan game, Chaminda Vaas, Hashan Tilakaratne, and Upul Chandana.

Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest Over 19 Boys winner Malindu Shehan, now a part of BRC