The Sri Lankan Cricket team has seen a massive decline in recent years in both men/women categories in all aspects of the game. The downfall can be attributed to poor show with the bat in the recent history as well as with the ball against formidable sides. Only a few players have taken up the responsibility to step up their game, come forward and initiated to drive the team towards victory.
One such player in the Sri Lankan women’s team is their captain Chamari Athapaththu.
In the ongoing WT20 championship, the skipper has been in top form since the word go. In their first match against Bangladesh Chamari bowled a quick spell of 3 overs, giving away just 15 runs and limited Bangladesh to a below-par total of 91 runs. Chasing this short total she made a 60 run opening stand before getting dismissed on 30 after almost seeing Sri Lanka through the match. In the second match against India, she again scored an amazing 32 with 5 fours and 1 six but there was no other impressive performance on the other end to support her, causing SriLanka to be restricted to a low total of 113 which was chased easily by the in-form Indian batsman handing Lankans their first defeat in the tournament.
In the third match against Australia, Chamari again gave the Lankans a fast yet organized start by scoring a brilliant half-century in 38 deliveries with 7 boundaries and 4 sixes at a whopping strike rate of 131.58. If any other batsman had shown a bit of intent on the pitch to support the skipper Lankans could have ended at 160 in place of the 122. No other batsman in the Sri Lankan hut was brave enough to support her while she was playing her shots at one end. She got dismissed in the 14th over after which the innings fell apart like a pack of cards. Sri Lanka lost yet another match with the Australians ending the match in 19.3 overs itself.
In the next match against New Zealand, Chamari in the best of her form continued with again a top knock of 41 including 5 fours and 2 sixes as the others failed to get going. She also got a wicket in the three overs she bowled and was sharp in the field too. Sri Lanka thus went on to lose the third match in the row despite the 30-year-old giving it her everything. All of these mishaps kept Sri Lanka away from the qualifications for the quarter-finals. Other players except the skipper were pretty average throughout the tournament. An interesting fact comes up when it was found that the captain has scored 55% of the runs Sri Lankan team scored in the World T20 championship. The other 10 players in the team were responsible for only the other 45% of the runs which was one of the major reasons for their early exit from the tournament.
Coming into the tournament, Lankans had never qualified for the quarter-finals and had never defeated Australia or New Zealand and have ensured that it remains the same this season, a record they won’t be proud of. The middle order of Perera and Karunaratne again disappointed throughout the group stage as and when the middle order for exposed. The opening partnership never actually got going because of which the pairs were being continuously changed with different pairs being tried out with Chamari. With a change in a partner comes a change in sync, calling, etc. which somehow affected the overall gameplay of the team as a whole.
The only middle-order batsman who tried to stay in the middle in most of the matches was Anushka Sanjeewani who played a minimum of 15 deliveries in each match but later went on to give away her wicket easily without much hassle to the opposition teams. The bowling department failed miserably and they could not at more than 5 wickets in any match. The batting was in shatters except for the skipper who played her part in every match owing to which Lankans couldn’t manage a score greater than 120 in any match.
In 2017, during the women’s 50 over world cup Chamari scored one of the absolute gems of an inning of all time where she scored an amazing 178 not outscoring a whopping 69% of Lanka’s runs as a team and brought Lanka back into the game after they were lagging terribly at 130-6. The second-highest total after her was just a mere 24. Another instance where her team was not behind her when she needed them the most.
Sri Lankan went on to score 257 in her 50 overs but owing to poor bowling they lost the match as Australia chased the total successfully and pretty quickly.
She has been there for the Lankan team on the first cry. In the recent t20 again against Australia she scored her maiden T20 century scoring a quickfire 113 off just 66 balls and made the headlines yet again in North Australia. Lanka lost the game yet again owing to the same old problems of just one person standing without any support. To keep the hopes high, Chamari tweeted after the match “Play freely, positive, courage. That’s the three words I will say to my team.” All this proves how good she is as a captain constantly striving towards betterment and keeping the team’s morale up at all junctures of time.
Chamari averages amazingly against formidable sides like Australia, New Zealand, etc and always makes sure she’s on the song from ball one. She keeps the scoreboard ticking with continuous running between the wickets and hitting boundaries in between to ensure the audience gets there share of entertainment. She is an amazing playmaker at the same time, a living legend and a motivational personality for Sri Lankan cricket in years to come. If more players decide to walk on her path and methods Lankan cricket is surely gonna boom leaps and bounds in the future and this will be a dawn of a new generation in their Cricketing future.
What sets apart Chamari Athapaththu from other players is her belief in herself. She has got the right attitude. When you will look at her on the field, you will find she is a leader by birth. As of recent, she has started bowling more overs too and she has picked wickets in the World t20 cup.
Her stroke-making, the patience to play long and the zeal to win matches for her country are right up there, a little support from her teammates can do wonders for the Srilankan team.
All of this proves how complete a player Chamari Athapaththu is. She is a match-winner on her day, a handy bowler and an even better captain.
The only thing she would have hoped was a better companion at the nonstriker end who could have maintained her composure supporting her throughout her innings. Lanka lacked partnerships throughout the tournament which led to their eventual loss but the skipper proved her worth time and again leading from the front.
Stay tuned for more.
