Former national javelin champ now key all-rounder in national cricket team 

Sri Lanka cricketer Chamika Karunaratne (left) receives a bat from his role model Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya during the T20I series

Chamika Karunaratne’s captivating interview with Sony Ten 1

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Few cricketers when interviewed on television have captured the imagination of the commentary team who are throwing questions at you to answer. 

Soon after Sri Lanka had beaten India by seven wickets in the third T20I to win the three-match series 2-1, Chamika Karunaratne, one of the players who stood out in the series with his all-round contribution, was interviewed on Sony Ten 1 by its presenter British broadcaster with Sky Sports Matt Floyd, and former Indian cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Ajith Agarkar. 

What came out of the interview impressed the commentary team that Floyd commented: “It was one of the most likeable and interesting interviews I’ve seen with a player recently. You could see the energy coming out of him, the positivity, the vibe and you could see why he is such a good player and why he has improved so much.”

Manjrekar said: “We kept talking about his temperament and spirit and now we know why. Not once did we hear ‘right areas’ and those kind of things. It was an outpouring of a cricketer and that was great to watch.”

Agarkar said it was “quite fascinating”.

What was so moving in that near eight-minute interview was the way Karunaratne poured his heart out at being overlooked for the Lanka Premier League (LPL) last year and how he overcame those hard months to work himself into an all-rounder to gain national recognition and then play a leading role in his country’s victory over India.

“I have to thank God that I am here. I really had a hard time in the last 10-11 months where I worked really hard. I didn’t get selected even to the LPL in Sri Lanka. I didn’t get a chance in the 70 who were selected. It was really sad. In the last 6-8 months I worked really hard in batting, bowling and fitness,” said Karunaratne, who is the brother of Sri Lanka’s famed badminton trio Dinuka, Niluka and Diluka.

“Fitness is like the main key for me. Even in my small days in school, in the Sri Lanka under-19 team, the emerging team and national team I was the fittest. That’s the main thing for me doing fitness and doing hard work. Especially when you talk about confidence, it is coming from my family because I was Sri Lanka’s number one in javelin champion in under 17, 15, 14 and 13 and youth. 

“When I come to the ground for any sport at any time, even a school match I always want to win. I want to give not 100% every time but for me it’s always like 200%. If you give your 200%, you will end up with 100% or 120%,” continued Karunaratne.

“So for me I always want to win for the team and for the country. I am so happy and I think it is working well. The confidence came from my other sports and from my families and from my brothers and friends who are supporting me really well. They are giving me blessings, people who blessed me in the last couple of weeks in Sri Lanka and around the world to win the series and to play for the country I thank you so much,” he said.

Renowned as a bowling all-rounder, Karunaratne displayed in the Indian series that he could be equally good with the bat playing the role of a finisher. 

“I like the finishing overs. They asked me whether I would like to bat at no. 7 and I told them if you want me to I don’t’ mind. But the captain, selectors and everyone said that I am doing well in the finishing overs and they told me to stay where I was and do what I have to do,” said Karunaratne.

“All the players had to fight a lot to win the series, a lot of hard work in like so many months and some hard times as well. We lost some senior players but with that all the players played as a team, so happy about it. The Indian team also lost some players as well but I thing we’ve done really well.”

Karunaratne made no bones about his fascination for Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya off whom he managed to get a bat.  

“It was Suryakumar Yadav he is the one who helped me,” said Karunaratne. “I told Suryakumar that I’d like to talk to Hardik Pandya and I love to take a bat from him. He said just go and speak to him he will definitely give you. When I met Hardik I didn’t ask him for the bat, but Suryakumar told him in Hindi that I am asking for one of his bats. Then Hardik asked me ‘do you want a bat?’ I said ‘no’ the first time and then again when he asked me I said ‘yes please’, and he just gave me one.”

“He is a nice human being and he talked to me and he messaged me and said ‘play the game, discipline, and day by day improve yourself and learn. Just play the game the way you are playing’. He was a role model for me because like I told you before the 6-8 months ago I really had a hard time, I was like looking at his pictures, videos, the way he trains, how he is hitting the ball and all that. I thank him again for giving me a lovely bat. I think it’s an ‘A’ grade bat, we don’t get that quality here, so I am really happy to get a bat from him.”

Manjrekar concluded the interview with the words: “I can visualize that four years later Hardik coming to you for a bat because you are showing that kind of potential, so all the best.”