Thilan Thushara’s twists and turns
The role of a quality left-arm fast bowler has become an important factor when a team is in hunt for consistency. Ironically that’s an area where the Sri Lanka cricket team has been struggling ever since the retirement of legend Chaminda Vaas.
Thilan (R) with his bowling partner Nuwan Kulasekara
Since then Sri Lanka have tested out several replacements but none of them were able to be successful at international level. This is a story of an all-rounder who was regarded as the replacement to fill the boots of Vaas.
Over the years Sri Lanka cricket had plenty of all-rounders that were not able to fulfil their expectations because of various reasons. Thilan Thushara Mirando is a prime example of a bowling all-rounder whose career had a lot of twists and turns.
Thilan Thushara began his cricketing journey at an early age, learning the basics at Siddhartha Central College, Balapitiya.
“I started playing cricket from Under-13. I played in all the age groups – Under-15, Under-17 and First XI. I had no intention of playing cricket for the school. I just played because of the passion I had towards the game,” he told the Sunday Times.
At 15, he was identified by the coaches of Ambalangoda Rio and Sinha sports clubs. That was the time he became aware of his talents and capabilities. At school he was groomed by several coaches.
“I grew under the shade of Rohan Sir, Theklal Sir, Manohara Jayawardane, Raveendra Prabath and Louis Karunaratne at school,” he said recalling the names of his early gurus, coaches who wanted the team to be consistent.
According to him, their only priority was to bring glory to their alma mater. They did not play a lot of school cricket as they played in Division III. Nevertheless, Thilan was a consistent performer with both the bat and ball.
In 1997, he played for the Ambalangoda Rio Sports Club at the age of 17 in the ‘Sara Trophy’. Then he played for the Sinha Sports Club. Although he played for these clubs he didn’t find any challenges for himself, but his cricketing career took a turn when he joined the Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC).
“My decision to join NCC was a turning point in my career. During that time NCC was considered to be one of the best clubs in the country. They had players such as Hashan Tillakaratne, Kumar Sangakkara, Russell Arnold, and several other senior players who played in the national team. So that was a great experience for me,” he recalled.
Once he was selected to a preliminary squad, but due to communication issues he was not able to come for practices as he was unaware of his place in the squad. In the same year he played for Sri Lanka ‘A’ team and due to his consistent performances he soon found the passage to the national team. During his time at the NCC, Thilan performed consistently as an all-rounder.
Due to his performances at domestic level, he was selected for the tour of West Indies in 2003. But unfortunately he was not able to showcase his talents during that tour. From 2003 to 2007 he once again went on to be a consistent performer in the domestic circuit. At the same time he went to England to play League cricket. He returned in 2007 and joined SSC, which enabled him to make a comeback to the national team in 2008.
He returned with a wealth of experience under his belt but it was his experience at the domestic level enabled him to regain his place in the national team, according to him.
From 2008 to 2010 he was a permanent member in the national team with seniors like Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Chaminda Vaas helping him to understand his role in the side. He went on to make a strong bowling combination with Nuwan Kulasekara.
In 2009 he was named in the ICC team of the year and was also rewarded with an IPL contract. Unfortunately, he was sidelined due to a knee injury in 2010. Ironically that was the end of the road for him with the national team.
Despite not being picked for the national team, he has been a consistent performer at the domestic level. Thilan was critical about the selection committees during that time. He believes that inconsistency in selections was one of the main reasons for the downfall of Sri Lanka cricket.
“I was performing consistently. But the selection committees after 2010 did not give me a chance to show my capabilities and I did not have conversations with the selectors as I thought my performances would justify my place,” he said.
Thilan also felt that the selectors are ignoring the players who are consistent performers at the domestic level, which still habitually continues.
“In our days we were picked according to our abilities. One of the main reasons for the inconsistency in selection is that the selectors don’t have proper criteria. So we don’t know about the standards that we need to maintain if we need to get back in the national setup. So I think Sri Lanka cricket need to look at this problem and take necessary action to ensure it would benefit future players,” he said.
The former all-rounder also lamented on the lack of left-arm fast bowlers in the national team. He highlighted the need of having a quality left-arm paceman in any bowling attack, while also highlighting the fact that cricketers should be groomed from school level.
“Most talented school players are left out because of lack of guidance and the trend continues at the club level as well,” he said.
Thilan was hopeful that responsible authorities look in to this prolonged problem with importance. Meanwhile, Thilan still believes he is capable of representing the national team in the shorter formats.
“I am still hopeful of making a comeback into the national team especially in the T20 format. I have played domestic cricket for almost 22 years, and I have been consistently performing as a bowling all-rounder. I always believe in the fact that age should not be a barrier if the player is fulfilling the criteria that is required to make the team. So I certainly think that I deserve a chance to represent my country again,” said Thilan, explaining his future ambitions.