SI Cricket Talks
By: Shazeen Ifamy
By now we should know the name Chamika Karunaratne, a dazzling allrounder with incomparable passion. Karunaratne isn’t new to sports as he comes from a sporting family, we all should of course know his brother, Niluka Karunaratne a Sri Lankan olympian. Nevertheless, this article isn’t about the sporting background of Karunaratne but is about his undying passion towards Sri Lankan Cricket and representing the country.
Karunaratne is a very good allrounder that can bowl at any stage of the innings and he is a very flexible batter capable of changing his batting style and tempo according to the situation but what stands out for me isn’t any of these factors but is the passion Karunaratne brings to the field. We would have definitely seen this across the last few months. Whether he is bowling, batting, or fielding he does it all with an immense amount of passion. Examples of this are his reactions to reviews being overturned during the India series and his reactions to catches being dropped during the matches against Oman. Now the main reason this stands out for me is that no one else in the current Sri Lankan team exhibits the same amount of passion that Karunaratne shows.
In continuation, Sri Lankan Cricket should hope for Karunaratne’s passion to spread like wildfire within the team as if it does our players will put on an unbelievable performance in the World T20 Tournament. Karunaratne’s belief, fight, and passion are something that other players should look up to and adopt as it will allow them to become better players as they will start playing for the badge on the front of their jersey rather than the name behind it. All in all, Chamika Karunaratne truly shows what it means to play for and represent Sri Lanka at an international level anytime he sets foot on the playing field. In conclusion, Karunaratne is a man who plays for the badge on the front of his jersey hence people remember the name on the back of it.
Reference:
- ECB, P. E.-. (n.d.). Chamika Karunaratne of Sri Lanka poses during a portrait session at… Getty Images. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chamika-karunaratne-of-sri-lanka-poses-during-a-portrait-news-photo/1233593849?adppopup=true.