If you’re a Sri Lankan and you grew up in the 90s, there’s more than a slight chance that you dreamt of representing the national cricket team at some point in your life after watching Sri Lanka lift the trophy under ‘Captain Cool’ Arjuna Ranatunga. And so it was for Dulan Kodikara, who grew up in the suburbs of Negombo, playing cricket for Maris Stella College.
Among the Jayasuriyas, Muralitharans, Ranatungas and De Silvas that inspired a generation to dream big, there was another man, who would turn into the ultimate inspiration for Kodikara later on in life.
The South Asian region is known to be cricket-crazy but this does have its disadvantages too. While thousands dream of representing their country, only a few are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to do so. Many are left with no Plan B if not picked to play professionally. Kodikara’s dream of playing for Sri Lanka took a major blow when his parents urged him to take a break from cricket while studying for his GCE Advanced Level examinations, “I was into cricket and music and they (his parents) said I can only have them as a hobby moving forwards, not a profession. They wanted me to give up playing cricket during my A Levels. And I thought ‘oh, my dream is gone now, I’m not going to have a playing career and I will never get a chance to wear the Sri Lanka Jersey.’”
‘The players and officials are very protective of us’ – Maduwanthi Wijesuriya
Having been convinced to take his A Level examination in the Science stream, Kodikara was determined to somehow stay connected to sport. A colleague of his father suggested that he go down the path of Physiotherapy, pointing to the success of a physio in International Cricket, a very well known one to Sri Lankan Cricket fans: “She told me, ‘you’re so into sports, it would be great if you go down the road of physiotherapy, it will be something you enjoy because you love sport.’ She also took the example of Alex Kountouris Sri Lankan physio at the time, which gave me inspiration to go study physiotherapy.”
Kodikara is a very driven individual, especially when it came to sport. With becoming a physiotherapist his first goal, he set off to Bangalore, India for his Bachelor’s degree. Upon completion of his degree, he set about trying to achieve his dream of being the head physio for Sri Lanka. “I finished my bachelor’s in 2007 and I came back to Sri Lanka. My biggest dream was to join Sri Lanka Cricket and I knew that there were only a handful of graduates in the whole country, so I thought it would be easy to step into Sri Lanka Cricket. I ended up interviewing with them in 2008. That was the first interview, which was not successful.”
Though his bid was unsuccessful, Kodikara did not let it affect him as he began to build his resume, adding to it the milestone of being the first permanent lecturer in the bachelor’s degree program for Physiotherapy at the Peradeniya University, the first of its kind. He kept working as lecturer over the next couple of years wanting to specialize in sports physiotherapy. With the advice of his mentor Kountouris, he endeavored to get his masters in Australia but with coming from Sri Lanka and many universities preferring more experienced students, the road was rocky. The break he was waiting for came though in 2010. “I got to go to the Netherlands to do a fellowship in sports medicine, with another doctor from Sri Lanka and for two and a half months we got to train with the Dutch soccer medical team and the Dutch Olympic medical team. That training paved the way for me to come to Australia in 2011 for my Master’s.”
Vintage Angelo Mathews…. Welcome back!
Between his 1st interview with Sri Lanka Cricket and his completion of a Master’s degree, he applied for the physiotherapist post at Sri Lanka Cricket whenever a vacancy was announced, a further 4 times in fact. Unfortunately for Kodikara, though he felt that the interviews had gone relatively well, he was just not able to seal the deal. It was a difficult, frustrating time for him, but before long, a different pathway opened up. “I did not let my dream die. I just kept on dreaming and working hard. It was in 2015 that I first got the opportunity to work with Cricket Australia. That also came out of the blue. I got recognized for my contribution towards helping out Paralympic athletes and other athletes in Sri Lanka during a community awards that happened in Melbourne. There were representatives from Cricket Australia at the ceremony whom I bumped into and he advised me to send in my CV. After a couple of months, he came back and told me that the England Intellectually Disabled team was touring Australia, and that the Australian team needed a physiotherapist.”
After migrating to Australia, the opportunities have been aplenty for Kodikara, with coaches and administrators quickly identifying him as a man who is passionate about what he does. During the past 5 years, he has worked with the National Indigenous team, Intellectually Disabled team as well as Cricket Victoria and a number of teams at the age group level as well. Through it all, perhaps the factor that makes him stand out is perhaps his ability to empathize with players while still maintaining his passion. “I’m still living my dream. I feel like I am part of the team, because I always used to play with a lot of passion and hated losing. And that is what the coaches see as well, they see that real passion. It has helped me to help the players too. Because even if someone gets injured, I treat it with a lot of empathy.”
His success in Australia, where there are far more qualified physiotherapists in comparison to Sri Lanka, is a testament to his hard work. He hopes that with the experience gained during the past few years, a job with Sri Lanka Cricket should not be too far off. “I know that they bring a lot of foreign experts. However, a big language barrier exists. I believe my being conversant in Sinhala should give me the edge. A lot of our guys are not very fluent in English. My knowledge and experience can be delivered more comprehensively in Sinhala. Otherwise the communication is very superficial.”
If he were to get the opportunity, he already knows what he wants to do with it. “I have a burning desire, one fine day if I end up landing the job, to bring everyone (Biomechanics, Sports Psychologists, Physios, Strength and Conditioning coaches, Nutritionists, Dieticians) together. In Sri Lanka Cricket, they don’t get enough help from other resources as well, for example, Sports Psychologists.”
He had a near-miss on getting the job in 2017, when SLC themselves approached him but unfortunately, for reasons he cannot pin down, he was rejected a 6th time. His mentor Kountouris had success all over the world, including with Sri Lanka and most recently Australia and Kodikara hopes that it is not too late for him to follow in his footsteps. “In addition to dreaming of becoming the Physio at Sri Lanka Cricket, I would still want to contribute to cricket. For the time being the goal is to continue working on cricket injury research. But, if any opportunity comes my way, I would be happy to grab it. Not just to grab the opportunity, but to show the whole world that a dark-skinned guy, from this tiny island is also as capable as anyone else in the world. I just want to make my country proud.”
Kodikara is currently completing his PhD at the Federation University, Ballarat, Australia, specializing in Head, neck, facial and dental injuries, so rest assured, whether he gets the gig with Sri Lanka Cricket or not, his is a name, the cricket community will be hearing more of in the years to come.
