Cricket is his passion and also his art. He enjoys his cricket art on the field. He is none other than Sadisha Rajapaksa. Representing Royal College, Colombo 7, he came into the limelight by being the recipient of the prestigious and celebrated award, given to the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2021 on December 4.
The flagship English language newspaper, the Sunday Observer has been a part and parcel of this significant event for the past 43 years. Amidst an abundance of excitement, filled with overwhelming joy and happiness, Sadisha found time to speak to the Youth Observer regarding his rooted love for cricket. Playing cricket had been his childhood dream which became a reality as he was barely eight years. “I can still recollect my memories as a little child of eight, trying to understand my potential of playing cricket at Royal,” Sadisha said.
Cricket is Sadisha’s craft and he makes sure that he stays passionate about his craft. He is a young cricketer who turns the challenges that he encounters into opportunities. Recalling his memories of playing for Royal’s under 13, Sadisha remarked that Nimantha and Sasika attended as his coaches.
He was also introduced to Saldin as his coach at the Royal College cricket academy. Meanwhile, Rashan Peiris, Lahiru Fernando, Prageeth Fernando, Nisansala, Sadaruwan and Charith stood as his coaches, as he was playing for under 15. Sadisha found Jehan Mubarak and Kelum Fernando, coaching him when he was playing for under-17. Furthermore, albeit, Thilina Kandamby, Kelum Fernando and Lahiru Fernando are not currently available at Royal College, along with Jehan Mubarak, the first year coaching of the under-19 team was entrusted upon them. Currently the under-19 team is being coached by Jehan Mubarak, Asiri Perera, Darantha and Ajantha.
Gratitude
Also joining this group of coaches was Prasanna Priyankara, Sadisha’s coach from childhood. While reserving a deep sense of gratitude for all his coaches, Sadisha said, “All my coaches are rather amazing guys. They all know the knack of taking your hidden talents and potential out of the carpet and I owe tremendously to all my coaches for everything that they do.”
“I am grateful to my school Royal College which is a green pasture for young and upcoming cricketers with an abundance of opportunities” Sadisha remarked. His basking onto the glory of triumph by being the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2021 bears testimony to his lively sportsmanship.
Sadisha is a young cricketer who knows the value of respecting others’ views and opinions which is necessary for any sportsman to be psychologically prepared and understand the views of the other people who are involved with the game that they are playing.
Sadisha is an optimistic player who looks at the brighter aspects of the game that he plays which is also a significant trait of a good sportsman. Being an award winning young cricketer, Sadisha is a fine metaphor which demonstrates the fact that winning with pride is the zeal of an outstanding sportsman. In any sport, having team spirit would undoubtedly help you evolve. Team spirit is one of Sadisha’s synonyms and his approach to the game is honest and taken with conscious efforts.
Inspiration
While recalling his memory of the tournaments that he played at Royal College, he remarked that the under-15 A team and under-15 B team, became the joint champions and the champions respectively. Also, he noted that currently he is playing for the SSC as well.
Sadisha said that former Sri Lankan cricketer, T. M. Dilshan and former South African cricketer, AB De Villiers are his sources of inspiration. Even before he started playing cricket, he had played Squash under the coaches Chandana, Deen and Prabath.
He has represented the island in the Squash Asian Junior Championship in Iran and Jordan. Sadisha grew up in the happy abode of his parents with the blissful company of two older siblings. Sakura and Indika Rajapaksa are his parents while Pabashi and Malshi are his sisters.
Sadisha’s view on the aspect of good sportsmanship is noteworthy. He said, “Being fair and ethical for those who play with you: your teammates as well as the opponents are essential ingredients of good sportsmanship”. He said that the polite and the gracious conduct that you maintain in the field is an important element which is able to avoid disrespecting the others who play along with you during the game. Sadisha believes that positivity is considered a significant trait, notably while you are playing a team sport like cricket which has been a celebrated sport in Sri Lanka.
Sadisha does not compromise with the team spirit which is an important element of sportsmanship. He noted that in his selected sport of cricket, the mutual understanding and the cooperation among various players is a must to win a match. In a nutshell, he remarked that sportsmanship consists of working with others in full harmony.
Sincerity and punctuality are also some other ingredients that a good sportsman should possess and Sadisha believes that when such ingredients are not available, the entire match schedule and the time table go hay- wire, resulting in an incomplete and unsatisfactory work.
Discipline
Sadisha said that discipline is another significant dimension of sportsmanship; you should be bound by the rules, regulations and the principles of the game. Sadisha is the manifestation of an ideal young sportsman where he plays the game for the sake of the game.
He said that he is neither puffed by a victory nor depressed by a defeat. He enjoys maintaining a high spirit both in prosperity and adversity. Plato declared, “A true sportsman is he who harmonizes strength and weakness in the interest of peace and order.”
Wellington said, “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playground of Eton”. What was meant by Wellington was the fact that the qualities of sportsmanship that the English soldiers learnt while schooling made them more confident and stable even when they encountered such a horrifying enemy like Napoleon on the battlefield at Waterloo. In that light, the young blood, energy and the true sportsmanship of Sadisha Rajapaksa would bring joy, excitement and new hopes to the Sri Lankan cricket fans in the time to come.
