Young Kugadas Mathulan is in seventh heaven having been called up for an assessment by IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. In the southern Indian city of Madras, apparently every aspect of Kugadas has been assessed by CSK talent scouts.
There has been sound advice on what he should be doing to further enhance his career and the 17-year-old has been well looked after being provided with nutrition and supplements needed for his development. He is been put up at a posh five star hotel in the heart of the city and apparently has a room in the same floor as M.S. Dhoni. CSK have been very good at identifying talents early and they probably have the best scouting system in the world. The videos of Kugadas were sent to India early this year and once Dhoni saw the footage, he wanted to have a further look at the kid.
Previously too other young Sri Lankan players like Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana with little international exposure have secured deals with CSK.
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By grooming these young players, CSK tend to kill two birds in one stone. Their players obviously get an opportunity to train against them at nets. For example, if Matheesha Pathirana is not travelling to Madras lead up to the IPL due to fitness issues, they can train against Kugadas for they know when they play Mumbai Indians there is a good chance of them facing off Nuwan Thushara.
The other benefit being once these players are in their set up, CSK don’t have to pay a premium in auctions in a bid to secure these players. The franchise has certainly mastered the art of ‘catch them young’.
CSK is owned by India Cements. The Managing Director there is N. Srinivasan, the former President of BCCI and the ex-boss of ICC. Srinivasan is very passionate about cricket, like Killy Rajamahendran of Maharaja’s, who employed virtually the entire Sri Lankan cricket team in 1980s.
Long before CSK and IPL, India Cements gave employment to many cricketers from south India and looked after them well too. Their love affair with cricket is continuing through the IPL franchise, one of the most successful in the world.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for Kugadas. He has gone through many challenges in life and here he has the world in front of him. Now that he has been spotted by an IPL franchise, he will be fast tracked to Sri Lanka Under-19 side as well and he should go on to play in the next Youth World Cup.
There was also another mystery spinner from down south that CSK had seen and wanted to come over to Madras. But the player could not be released due to his commitment with the school, but shood come under the wings of Dhoni soon.
The world is now in front of Kugadas and it is up to the individual to make most of it. Kudos to his coaches as well for not tinkering with his natural action.
Time was when Sri Lanka had the edge over other team having so many players with unconventional styles. At one time, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis played in the same team and Sri Lanka were unstoppable.
Maybe sticking to a similar formulas will enable Sri Lanka to become a force in the sport again.
North and east are blessed with natural talents. The impact these two provinces are having in basketball and football are quite impressive and given the backing they are getting for cricket, it’s only a matter of time before they go on to make an impact in cricket as well.
It’s been great to watch all these guys perform live. So many Big Matches are telecast live these days that you get a chance to take a first-hand look at some of these up-and-coming players.
That video clip where Kugadas bowls a reverse swinging yorker to bowl the batsman neck and crop has gone viral in India and has been picked up by several mainstream media outlets as well.
It’s been an interesting week in cricket having a new franchise for the LPL and an IPL franchise showing interest in a raw Sri Lankan talent.
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Like the IPL franchises, Sri Lankan franchises too should give these rookies a break. Not necessarily by playing them but by having them as part of the franchise as back up players. Young players can look up to some of the greats of the sport sharing the same dressing room and learn from some reputed coaches as well.
LPL may be not IPL standards, but certainly the tournament has helped us identify new players and prepare players for the demands of modern-day international cricket. The upcoming season should be an exciting one as well.
