The year 2017 has been the year of turnarounds and 21-year-old Ron Chandragupta, hailing from Kandy, has had the best stint of his short cricketing having recently made it to the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team following his success in the Premier League tournament.
Playing a second season for the Colombo Cricket Club (CCC), he scored three back to back centuries which led to his call-up for the practice game against the English Lions. He ended up saving the day for the team; the former Trinity College skipper has got his name on top of the selection list awaiting national duties.
The 21-year-old has had the season of his life scoring 827 runs at an average of 68.91 in 14 innings for CCC at the conclusion of first eight matches of the SLC Premier League. Numbers will always be the indicators of success but what it takes to achieve them will always be the work done behind the scenes.
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Early years
At the age of 12, a young lad entered through the gates of Trinity College and took everyone at cricket practice by surprise with his batting and peculiar bowling action. This very individual later developed to be one of the best cricketers that Trinity has produced and was hailed as captaincy material.
“Ron was a person who challenged the system. Rather than following the code, he always took the other route from day 1. That’s what makes him different” was the response that I got from his contemporaries who played alongside him in College.
Representing the Sri Lanka Under 15 and 17 teams on tour, Chandragupta later became Trinity’s most experienced top order batsman representing the 1st XI team for 4 years, but what changed life around was when he was handed over the duties of captaincy.
“Getting to captain the Trinity College 1st XI was a dream come true. I had captained College at junior levels but it felt different to take the responsibility of the senior team.”
Chandragupta led a team that had the likes of current national paceman Lahiru Kumara as well as Raveen Sayer and Lakshan Jayasinghe at its disposal, from the forefront, scoring a total of 900 runs and later helping his team finish as runners-up in the league.
Failing to give up
If one needs an example for a fighter who fails to call it quits, you should find the Chandragupta story fascinating. 2014 was a year of ill fortune for Trinity as the Lions lost the Big Match by a single run and the One-Day encounter was drawn.
“It was a tough time. We gave our best to win the match but I think luck didn’t favor my team that day. That loss was a turning point in life. We lost in the 1st innings, our team’s spirits were down and I knew I had to play a bigger role to lift their spirits up.”
“That was a defining moment for me”
Not giving up on his dreams, a few weeks later Chandragupta was found in the nets of Tamil Union making himself ready for the Under 23 season.
“What makes this lad exceptional is his commitment. Had he given up in the midst of his career transition, things would have been different.”
Honoring his commitments, I recall Ron walking into the Advanced Level Economics examination after having played a match the day prior and making it to Kandy in an early morning bus. That was the level of commitment this lad had.
Chandragupta’s purple patch at CCC got him the ticket to the starting line-up of the Board XI for the game against the Lions, carrying the hopes of the Lankans. Scoring a fighting 48 in the first innings where the team was bundled out of 153, he missed out on a valuable century in the second innings where he ended up scoring 91 runs.
“It is a privilege to get a call up to represent the Board XI and later the ‘A’ team. I think I will continue to play my usual cricket and hopefully make a mark”
Although he missed out on the first unofficial Test for the ‘A’ team against the England Lions, Chandragupta believes that time will give him the opportunity to make the distance.
“I know it is any cricketer’s dream to wear the national colours and If I am given the opportunity, I think I will work to prove myself to be worthy”
With Sri Lanka Cricket witnessing ample of young and upcoming talent, the selectors should find the inclusion of this 21-year-old talent a prospective venture which will benefit both the country and the individual.
