Dinesh Chandimal gave me a warm welcome at his spacious bungalow in Thalangama. As expected he was friendly, unassuming and down to earth. His petite wife was friendly and was there in the background.
TSUNAMI
He set the ball rolling by mentioning about the horrendous experience he had to undergo confronting the ‘TSUNAMI.’At the time Chandimal lived at Patabendimulla, Ambalanggoda, and had to confront this as a 13 year old. On that day December 26, 2004 he got up at 4.30 am to watch a cricket match, New Zealand against Sri Lanka with his father ( they did not have a TV set and used to watch at a neighbourr’s place) it was a Poya day. As is customary for Buddhist households during Poya days, Dinesh Chandimal’s family partook in cleaning their household, and his mother opened the back door which was facing the sea, to throw the dirt out and to her horror saw the first wave approaching, ‘alarm bells rang’ and the whole family ran 100 metres towards the landside seeking shelter and approached a nearby hill, his mother was seven months pregnant. He also mentioned that they escaped the second mighty wave by a couple of seconds, if not there would not be a ‘Dinesh Chandimal today.’ He and his siblings had to rough it out for three days in a Temple until an elderly lady gave them proper shelter. Eventually the Government provided them with a house.
PLEASANT SURPRISE
During that traumatic period, Chandimal got a pleasant surprise, he got an offer to play for Ananda College Colombo and he mentioned that Agith De Silva(the best left arm spinner Sri Lanka produced until Rangana Herath came on the scene) and helped him in switching from Dharmashoka to Ananda. Incidentally both these highly talented cricketers took the same route, Dharmashoka to Ananda. Chandi didn’t favour the switch because he didn’t want to leave his friends in Ambalngoda. He thought it would stand him in good stead for his future career prospects other than cricket by joining Ananda College. He never dreamt that he would reach such “dizzy heights in cricket.”
A SHINING STAR AND A GUIDING LIGHT AT ANANDA
Chandimal recalled that he represented Ananda College for three years and captained in his final year, during that year they won outright 10 matches and scored 1540 runs . He was also the school boy cricketer in 2008/09 and to cap it all he was the Best Captain, Best Fielder and The Best Batsman.
After getting selected to play for the under 19 Sri Lanka team Chandimal set his sights on representing Sri Lanka, not only was he a talented batsman but a brilliant wicket keeper and an enthusiastic and agile fielder.
He stated that In 2010 he played for Sri Lanka under Kumar Sangakkara in West Indies it was to be his first senior outing. Thus far Chandimal has scored nearly 4000 runs in Test Cricket at an average of 49, in ODI’s 3,600 runs at an average of 74, T 20’S 800 runs at an average close to 105, impressive stats indeed.
ROMESH KALUWITHARANA
Romesh Kaluwitharana was the cricketer who inspired him most and he had that ability commented Chandimal. He was also proud of the fact that that he played alongside Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene,Mutthia Muralitharan, Thilakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya and was grateful to all of them.
T 20-2010,2012,2014,2016 and the 2015 World Cup as the record shows Chandimal has played in five World Cups and is still 30 years of age, disciplined and fit. According to Chandi he still have a good 5 years in the tank. The writers opinion is that given his due opportunities, without short circuiting Dinesh Chandimal if he keeps his cool could surpass all the greats except Aravinda De Silva. I feel that Chandimal’s inbuilt athleticism, will enable him to get back on track easy.
He recalled that during the ICC World Cup 20015, he got around 52 runs in 24 balls at a strike rate of 216, it was unfortunate that Chandi got a hamstring injury if he carried on in that vain in Sydney they would have gone through to Quarters and would have had a chance of lifting the World Cup in 2015,lamented Chandimal.
to be continued
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