Pathum Nissanka can be our next Test opener says coach Avishka Gunawardene:

Three months ago Pathum Nissanka Silva took a blow flush on his forehead while fielding at forward short leg from a powerful pull shot from England wicket-keeper/batsman Jos Buttler and lay prone on the field. The incident occurred on the final day of England’s two-day warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Cricket President’s XI played at the NCC grounds.

"You always fear the worst, I think I hit him very hard and straight in the middle of the helmet and luckily the medics rushed straight on and treated him. You don't mean to cause injury - it is a really unfortunate accident," said Buttler fearing the worst for Nissanka who received treatment from England's medical staff for about 15 minutes before he was taken off on a stretcher to hospital where he was kept under observation for 24 hours before being released.

Thankfully Nissanka didn’t suffer any after side effects from that blow and was fit enough to continue with his career which according to Sri Lanka ‘A’ team coach Avishka Gunawardene is blossoming into one that is going to take him straight into the Sri Lanka Test team in time to come.

Having already notched up two massive scores of 206 not out against Sri Lanka Army and 163 against Moors SC for NCC in the ongoing Premier League Tier ‘A’ tournament Nissanka gave further evidence of his talent by compiling a match-saving 217 off 274 balls to help Sri Lanka ‘A’ draw the second unofficial test against Ireland ‘A’ at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Sooriyawewa and thereby win the two-match series 1-0.

Nissanka’s innings came at a crucial time for his team who were forced to follow-on 205 runs behind Ireland A’s first innings of 508-8 declared and were trying to stave off a possible defeat when they lost four wickets for 139 in their second innings. Nissanka kept the Lankan ‘A’ innings afloat batting session after session and building up important partnerships with Kamindu Mendis and then with Chamikara Karunaratne who went onto score his maiden first-class hundred. Sri Lanka ‘A’ eventually declared at 468-7 after this magnificent back-to-the-wall fightback to draw the ‘test’.

“Yesterday’s (Wednesday) innings he never looked like getting out,” was how Gunawardene described Nissanka’s epic knock. “We always thought that he had talent and the one good thing about him is when he gets set and gets a good score he goes onto get a big one. That is something that is lacking in most of our batsmen today. He is only playing his maiden first-class season and to his credit he has already scored two double hundreds. At 21 that says a lot. I keep reminding him that it’s a good reputation to have. Unless you get him out early he is going to get a big one.

Speaking further Gunawardene said, “I’ve seen Kaushal Silva bat for hours and hours but this guy not only has the patience of Kaushal but has a big range of shots, he can drive, pull, and cut. He has a combination of patience and range of shots which is a very good thing to have.

“To me when you look at him he has a very sound and simple technique. He handles spin very well. The best thing I see is that he is totally focussed in his game not bothered about what’s going on outside which is an excellent attitude for Test cricket.

“If you look at his career throughout, the centuries he has scored are all big ones. That’s a very good sign for the future. To me he looks like in another 6-7 months he can be our next Test opener,” he said.

From his school days Nissanka who represented Kalutara Vidyalaya and later Isipathana College had this habit of scoring double centuries. The diminutive opener scored his first double century against Meepawala Amarasuriya College when he was just 14 and in the same year he went onto play first XI cricket for Kalutara Vidyalaya. Two years later, he clobbered his second double ton in a first XI match against Debarawewa MMV.

After three years with Kalutara Vidyalaya, Nissanka moved to Isipathana where he continued his prolific run making for two more years scoring an unbeaten double century (205) off 190 balls against President’s College, Rajagiriya at Colts grounds. It was while playing for Isipathana that he was picked to represent his country for the first time. Playing for Sri Lanka against South Africa in the under 19 youth test he scored a memorable 172. He was also a part of the historic Sri Lanka U19 squad that toured England where they won the youth Test series 1-0 and the youth ODI series 3-0.

Nissanka has a come a long way since being taught how to hold a bat by his father Sunil Silva at the tender age of five.

 

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