Chamindu Wickramasinghe – the talk of LPL-5

The talk of LPL-5 Chamindu Wickramasinghe 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

In the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) season 5 if any player can lay claim to the Most Promising Player award, all-rounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe’s name will be right on top of the list.

This 21-year-old former St. Anthony’s College Katugastota and Sri Lanka Under-19 all-rounder has scored two half-centuries for Dambulla Sixers, both under pressure situations which marks him as a cricketer with special talent to make it big time in time to come. Having loads of talent is not going to get you where you want to be. It requires considerable skill as well as composure to make the best under trying circumstances. These qualities Wickramasinghe has displayed in the two knocks he’s played so far in the LPL.

Wickramasinghe first caught the eye in Dambulla’s opening match against defending champions Kandy Falcons where he scored an unbeaten 62 off 42 balls (4 fours, 3 sixes) and with Mark Chapman (91*) put on an unbroken stand of 154 after his team had lost their first four wickets for 25 inside the power play. Although Dambulla lost the contest by six wickets, the talking point was Wickramasinghe’s knock at how he handled the situation under pressure to give his side a challenging total to bowl at.    

“Considering the position we were in, getting to 180 plus with the partnership was a big achievement,” said Wickramasinghe. “On the other side was Mark Chapman of New Zealand. He has a lot of experience. He spoke to me all the time and I told him that I will support him. I think I did what was required of me for the team.”

On Tuesday, Wickramasinghe was again confronted in a similar situation with Dambulla on 87-6 when he decided to take charge of the situation and take his team to a decent total of 160-8. On this occasion Wickramasinghe scored 56* off 34 balls (6 fours, 3 sixes) which included 24 runs in the final over which eventually turned out to be the turning point of the match as Dambulla went onto win by 25 runs. Having done his part with the bat Wickramasinghe was called upon by his captain Mohammad Nabi to bowl the final over of the match (his first of the match). He obliged his captain by grabbing the wicket of Isuru Udana who had threatened to take the game away from Dambulla and then finishing it off with the wicket of Maheesh Theekshana to end with figures of 2/1. Undoubtedly Wickramasinghe was named Player of the Match.   

“To come to this position I’ve worked hard,” said Wickramasinghe. “I was in India for the past three months at the MRF Pace Foundation. I did a lot of work there and I believe I learnt a lot. That experience has helped me to perform well. This is my second LPL, I played 2 matches in 2022 but I didn’t perform that well. I have got another opportunity this year and I intend to make the most of it. It is a great experience playing in the LPL as there are a lot of foreign players from whom you can learn a lot. For players like me the LPL is very beneficial. Sri Lanka requires a fast-bowling all-rounder and I am working hard towards attaining that position and win as many matches for the country.”