Cricket coach PP Silva recalls the times spent teaching rudiments of the game to his son, Sri Lanka’s batting sensation Kaushal Silva
In a white T-shirt with a readily available smile, seventy-two-year-old Pinnaduwage Premadasa Silva or PP Silva does not look a giant of a man. However, he has stood like a colossus behind his son Kaushal, the latest heart throb in the Sri Lanka cricket team.
Premadasa is not like any other dad of a successful sporting star. He has played a decisive role in making Kaushal the cricketer he is today, as he has been the pint-sized talented batsman’s coach and guru from his tender years. Long before Kaushal took guard for Sri Sumangala College Panadura, Premadasa had started instilling into his loving son and ardent student the basics of the game.
“I still remember taking Kaushal and his younger brother (Dilshan) for cricket practices at the Panadura Esplanade on my pushbike,” says Premadasa from the comfort of the living room at his residence on Medawella Road in Panadura.
“From the beginning Kaushal has been a good student. He has always taken the game seriously and has worked tirelessly on his batting.”
Results are there for everyone to see.
Kaushal, 27, making his second entry into the national team after debuting in 2011 and playing in the opener’s slot vacated by Tillakaratne Dilshan, made three impressive half centuries (81, 95 and 58 runs) against Pakistan in the recently concluded Test series in the UAE. His compact play, good technique, Test match temperament, precise foot movement, and sound judgment, especially against fast bowlers, all came in for high praise from his team, the opposition and the expert commentators.
A humble man he is, Premadasa does not want to share in his son’s moment of glory and credits his son for his achievements.
“Kaushal has been committed from young age. He was always excited when told he was playing cricket. Cricket is in his blood. He is not a guy who relaxes; he takes everything as a big challenge.”
Premadasa happily walks down the memory lane, his wife Lalani Fernando, 65, a retired science teacher, keeping him company.
“Once, we played a tennis ball cricket match at Kaushal’s uncle’s place. Kaushal was seven or eight years then. He tried to stop the ball and got entangled in a barbed wire fence. Even then he was that committed.”
Premadasa himself has been a cricketer from his young days. He first played for Sri Sumangala College as an all rounder, bowling left arm spin. He captained his school in 1962. Then he played for Air Force for five years before starting work at the Lake House as a supervisor.
He used to do night shifts at the Lake House and spent the day at the Panadura esplanade, Premadasa says.
“I loved coaching. While working I helped the school (he coached the school for 25 years). Later I followed some coaching courses.”
Starting a private coaching class in 1983 “to help young cricketers” has been a defining moment of dad’s as well as his elder son’s lives.
“My sons were small when I took them to the class. Kaushal followed me everywhere I went. He simply loved to bat.”
Thereafter, Premadasa had got an opportunity to coach S. Thomas’ juniors.
“I was taking Kaushal to see their matches. The coaches there saw him and asked him to join the school. He was so small. We first feared when they asked him to face senior fast bowlers.”
S. Thomas’ coach Dinesh Kumarasinghe and Ranil Abeynayake had helped Kaushal fine-tune his technique, as he progressed smoothly captaining all age group teams in the school, and later playing for NCC and SSC.
Premadasa has gone to see the matches Kaushal played from his school days. Sometimes his wife has joined him. He still remembers Kaushal making 165 runs against DS Senanayake.
Kaushal’s younger brother has settled into an academic life and works at Commercial Bank. He plays mercantile cricket.
Kaushal in his initial period had done a bit of bowling as a spinner. Like in many cases Kaushal had accidently become a wicket keeper, when one day his coach at S. Thomas’ Chithral Mendis asked him to keep wickets in the absence of the regular wicket keeper. On that ‘fateful’ day behind the stumps, he had had a hand in six dismissals. Since then Kaushal has been a wicket keeper all his life – a role that would eventually work against him in his attempt to enter the big league.
The Silvas’ living room is ‘decorated’ with photos and trophies of various sizes and hues, all belonging to Kaushal and each of them bearing witness to a particular period of his cricketing life. One photo though stands out – team manager Anura Tennekoon handing Kaushal his Test cap just before the start of his debut match, also against Pakistan, in Dubai, on October 2011.
Just after three Tests – against Pakistan in Dubai and Sharjah, and South Africa in Centurion – Kaushal went out of the selectors’ radar, reasons beyond his control working against him. The presence of a couple of wicket-keeper batsmen in the team, namely Kumar Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardane, and the selectors’ newfound love for Dinesh Chandimal virtually closed the door to Kaushal.
“He was bit upset when he was not getting the chance. I was upset and worried for him. Of course, I had contacts…but I’m not that kind of man. I don’t go behind people. Kaushal too is like me. He has some big friends, some ex-Thomians. He didn’t trouble them; instead, he focused on his club cricket. He was quite prepared to let the bat do the talking and wait for his chance.”
Both the father and the son went through months of anxiety and frustration. The walls in Kaushal’s bedroom display some interesting graffiti.
“I will come back…I’m determined.”
“I don’t give up…this is not the end.”
The writing mirrors the cricketer’s mindset during those difficult times.
He was true to his words as he fought back scoring runs in plenty. He went past the 8000-run mark in first class cricket. He scored his 27th century. And was the highest run scorer in first class cricket in a calendar year in the whole world.
This time Kaushal was irresistible and he was called back to open the innings – a new role and a new challenge for a batsman who had played as a number three or four batsman throughout his career. He was equal to the task.
For Premadasa, Kaushal the Test batsman is still his student. He is like any other coach – slow in praising and harsh in criticism.
“We talk a lot about cricket. He phoned me and his mother everyday from Dubai. I was always asking him about the condition of the wicket and if the ball was moving. Still I don’t tell him he’s very good. I should not praise him much. I usually talk about his weaknesses, so he would correct them.”
In the UAE, Kaushal was exceptional on the field, taking sharpcatches at short cover and backward short leg. The cricketing world has marveled at this small cricketer’s reflexes and nimbleness. Nevertheless, Premadasa has noticed a mistake.
“He was on the field and came up with a slide to stop the ball. The ball just went under his hand to the boundary. There was no four there. I told him so when he called me that night.”
And the father had been livid when his son fell for 95 attempting a sweep shot.
“It was what they call the rush of blood. He wanted the century soon. Even an under 11 player doesn’t play that way… a cross bat shot. I told him so. He just kept silent and listened to me. I’m sure he won’t make the same mistake again.”
Three past students of Premadasa are in the Test squad selected for the Bangladesh series. All rounder Dilruwan Perera and middle order batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage too have learnt the basics of the game from him.
Every Saturday and Sunday Premadasa is still at the Panadura Esplanade, conducting his private academy with the help of two assistants.
There can be more Kaushals in the making.
