Dinura Kalupahana – another potential cricketer unearthed through the youth system
Representing the country at the Under-19 level is the ultimate dream for any school cricketer and it is considered as a steppingstone for them to build on and fulfil their dream of representing the national team. Sri Lanka is a country that is renowned for producing quality cricketers through its school cricket system that was once regarded as best in the world.
Dinura Kalupahana is one of those young cricketers who has the hunger and desire to succeed at the highest level. Having fallen in love with cricket at the tender age of three years, his parents were quick to identify his passion for the game. Soon after he was enrolled in to the Panadura Cricket Academy in which he learnt the basics of the sport under the watchful eyes of his first coach, G. Ranasinghe. While he was progressing at the academy, one of the coaches from Royal College, Panadura, Sumith Prasanna, persuaded him to join the college team.
Dinura represented the Royal Panadura Under-13 cricket team for four years, before moving on to Mahinda College, Galle in 2019, where his career as a school cricketer began to blossom. The youngster regarded it as the turning point of his life.
Similar to most young cricketers in the country, Kalupahana also hails from a middle income family, and had to go through numerous challenges. To allow this gritty youngster to concentrate on his cricket, his parents Dinesh and Kumari and his cousin sister Sanduni, worked tirelessly to cover his expenses. Having seen all the struggles that his family had to endure in enabling to make his childhood dream become a reality, he was determined to do justice for those sacrifices and achieve his short term goal of representing Sri Lanka at the Under-19 level.
“As time went by, I felt that if I need to improve my game I needed to play for a school that will convert me into a cricketer that has all the attributes that will enable to represent my country. Fortunately my family had the faith in me that I will take the maximum advantage of the opportunity to represent Mahinda College, as well as to fulfil my short term goal, which was to represent my country at Under-19 level,” Kalupahana recalled.
His school cricket career began to flourish after 2020. Kalupahana represented Mahinda College in all the age groups – Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 — and he represented the college first XI team for five years, including three big match encounters. Then he was appointed the captain for the 2023/2024 season.
During the 119th Lovers’ Quarrel encounter Kalupahana led from the front by scoring 111 runs and went on to set four big match records. Expressing his thoughts regarding the Richmond vs Mahinda big match encounter, he went on to say that it would be better if the authorities arrange a three-day encounter, so that the probability of getting a result would be high.
He tasted success on numerous occasions as he was a consistent performer as an all-rounder. As a reward for his consistent performances as a batsman, Kalupahana was able to be the runner-up in the Under-13 best batsman category. Then he scored 600 runs and became the island’s best batsman in the Under-15 category. He continued to dominate the Under-17 category as well.
At this stage he was on the cusp of being selected to the Under-19 team. But still he had to perform in the provincial tournament that was organised by Sri Lanka Cricket and Sri Lanka School Cricket Association, which aims of hunting players for the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2024. This gritty youngster who was high in confidence, scored three half centuries in four innings and also bagged five wickets to claim best all-rounder and man-of-the series awards. This enabled him to seal his place in the Under-19 national set up.
As a successful school cricketer, who has come through the system Kalupahana pointed out the lack of adequate facilities and qualified coaches to nurture school cricketers in various schools island wide. He insisted that as an area the authorities should give more priority in the future.
In 2023, he received his maiden call-up in to the Under-19 team. It was certainly a crucial moment for the youngster, as he has now started to reap the rewards for the commitment and the dedication he has shown throughout his school cricket career.
“During my first tour with the Under-19 national team, I was exited but not nervous. Ever since I was a school cricketer I used to perform well under pressure. Even though we lost the tour we identified our mistakes and were determined to rectify them as we moved forward,” he said.
The 18-year-old also played three Youth Tests and he was able to prosper in the longer format as well. He scored an unbeaten 150 off 229 balls against the West Indies as a middle order batter. By now Kalupahana had sealed the No.5 position in the team.
He played key roles in Sri Lanka’s home series victory against the West Indies and away series win against Pakistan. Especially the historic series win in Pakistan captured Kalupahana’s versatility as an all-rounder with his knock of 135 runs at an average of 27.61 with the highest score of 61, and claimed seven wickets with an impressive average of 21.42.
In the Asia Cup that followed, he was the only player to score a half century for Sri Lanka.
Despite the Asia Cup heartbreak Kalupahana said that the team was in high spirits as they landed in South Africa for Under-19 World Cup. Despite scoring heaps of runs individually, Kalupahana lamented the fact that he couldn’t convert his half centuries into centuries.
“I am pleased about the fact that I scored 196 runs at an average of 39.20 and was able to fulfil my responsibility as an all-rounder. But I regret the fact that I couldn’t convert my half centuries into centuries and I honestly feel that we could have finished as one of the semi-finalists. That is the only regret I have in my career as an Under-19 cricketer,” he lamented.
Ever since his Under-19 debut in the UAE in March 2023, Kalupahana has scored 547 runs at an average of 29.47 and he has bagged 24 wickets at an impressive bowling average of 26.33 in 20 matches. Following his individual heroics in South Africa, one of the commentators who witnessed the action predicted that Kalupahana has all the attributes to be another Angelo Mathews, who is one of his idols alongside former national captain Dasun Shanaka and star Indian batsman Virat Kohli.
After being successful at youth level, Kalupahana’s next target is to cement his place at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) and then gradually achieve his ultimate dream of representing the national team.
“It’s been a wonderful journey up to now. I will continue to work hard and make sure I bring glory and make my family, coaches and the entire nation proud. I want to be a part of a world cup winning team. That’s my ultimate dream,” the gritty youngster said.