Shadow Warriors of Devapathiraja nudge the mighty

By: Callistus Davy

Minus technical expertise and fanfare, a new breed of cricketers from a village school is turning heads. 

A way from the squabbles for position, political bickering, jockeying for prominence and egoism and the unprecedented forms of corruption, cricketers from a village school have exposed the self-styled pundits and created a record that perhaps no privileged school has ever been able to do. 

Being in school cricket for just around 20 years, Devapathiraja College’s cricketers entered three top shelf finals, Under-13, 15 and 17, winning the crown in the latter age group with mere mental determination and physical drive to reinforce their passion for cricket on the field.

“The players had just one goal in mind and that was to show the elite schools that what they can do we can do better by asking for nothing”, said Devapathiraja’s unsung coach Ranjan Lasantha de Silva. An old boy of the school, Ranjith was lured into cricket by watching the established schools in the south field teams with nothing to deter him.

He gave it a try by walking up to the Principal of Devapathiraja, Nissanka Gunasekera, with a fervent plea. Ranjan’s wish was immediately granted, virtually given to him on a platter and he wasted no time setting the course to ensure cricket took root, not with money and patronage of the high and mighty, but with the stuff that dreams are made of.

“We should have hit the limelight and found recognition as a champion team much earlier. But we were not privileged or influential like other schools to fight battles off the field when politics got in the way”, said Ranjan. He has already earmarked one Under-17 player, Arosha de Silva, who he says is a Sanath Jayasuriyalike batter, a reference to the Sri Lanka’s World Cup Champion whose prowess for baseball-type hitting took stroke-play to another level. But what is most disheartening is that Devapathiraja’s cricketers have no ground even to practice and nearly all of them hail from poor families united with one mission, to nudge the powers that be that they are here to stay.

In a most sublime gesture, an illustrious old boy of St. Joseph’s College in Colombo doled out Rs.50,000 to the Under-15 team of Devapathiraja after their final against the Darley Road school last Sunday.

In-between their rise to take on elite schools, Devapathiraja’s humble cricketers had the backing of a public welfare crusader and saviour in former Nalanda College and First Class cricketer Kushil Gunasekera who is no stranger to humanitarian deeds and whose clout and leverage among cricket’s super elite at Lord’s and the Maryleborne Cricket Club (MCC) put him in a position to plead on behalf of the most deserving of the obscure.

“These boys are charged up like rockets waiting for lift-off. Give them a ground of their own and then imagine what they’ll not be able to do”, said Gunasekera whose cricket academy at his Foundation of Goodness (FOG), provides solace to the under-privileged or the downtrodden. He takes care of Devapathiraja’s day to day needs on a monthly basis. At least seven girls from Devapathiraja who benefitted from Gunasekera’s generosity and facilities provided by his FOG made it to the Sri Lanka women’s team as finished products with very little to refine in them.

Coach Ranjan says he still has some unfinished business to ensure that the day he may not be  around someone will fit into his shoes understanding the mindset of the players and being the father figure of the school’s budding cricketers.

“These are all hardcore village boys and it is never easy to set standards. But when you see the commitment and the passion with which they take the field and play, your efforts are always worth. My heart and passion is here with these boys”, said Ranjan who has even turned down offers to coach privileged schools.

He did not hesitate to pay tribute to two of Devapathiraja’s pioneering school masters in Nishantha Kumara and Ranjith Kumbalakara whose dedication he said paid off. A one-time secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket at a time when it was a place of dignity and accountability, Kushil Gunasekera sees his FOG as an organisation that does something without fanfare and hollow pompous displays that has resulted in the country making vast strides in the development of cricketers and other athletes.

The champion Under-17 cricketers of Devapathiraja College comprising Arosha de Silva, Puljith Premaratnam, Yasiru
Lakshan, Sandaru Malshan, Oshen Mendis, Harsha Madushanka, Methusha Nirmal, Kaveeshwara Abeygunawardena,
Sasrika Abeygunawardena, Vihanga Nimsara and Hirusha de Silva with coach Ranjan Lasantha de Silva, school Principal
Kokila Mendis and master in charge Charuka Gunathilaka. The rest of the squad was made up of Vinod Nethsara, Jenu
Hirudaya, Rajesh de Silva and Adeesha Kumara.

“We are like a feeder to the nation”, said Gunasekera. “These boys deserve much more”. Four players, Arosha de Silva, Puljith Premaratna, Yasiru Lakshan and Sanduru Malshan from the champion Under-17 side, were selected to represent the Galle team at the Sri Lanka Youth Super League Provincial tournament this year and Gunasekera has the backing of Tokyo Cement Company that sponsors monthly coaching camps in the south and north of the country.