The papare continues… recollecting the exciting memories of the first session of Middle Stump’21, captioned “A power play with a boundary rider”. The Sports and Entertainment Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Kelaniya was able to launch its second cricket-mania session on the 27th Of September. It was once again headed by Rtr. Shaikh Dawood and Rtr. Duleetha Sandaruwan along with an amazing crowd of organizing committee members.
The adrenaline that was kept strong throughout the session inside the cricket fans was thanks to “a personality who tattooed the name of the little island of Sri Lanka on an international base” as introduced by our moderator, Rtr. Osura Vindula. This great personality was none other than Mr. Rangana Herath, one of the greatest spin bowlers of all time and the most successful left arm bowler in the history of Test Cricket in Sri Lanka.
The session initially warmed up with a wonderful presentation on Mr. Rangana Herath’s career, following which, we found ourselves within a short narration of his journey in cricket, starting from his childhood in Polgahwela St. Bernard Junior School, Narammalla Mayurapada Vidyalaya where he started playing cricket and Maliydewa College – Kurunegala. Mr Herath also revived us with his memories of representing the under 17 national team at that time and the progress he made by playing for various Sports Clubs after his period of schooling.
We were then brought about to the most awaited moment, which was to recall the memoirs of various challenging test matches our national team faced during the test series in South Africa. And it was with goosebumps on our arms that we listened as we were told the stories of how our national players put into action a game plan which ensured the victorious results of the T20 World Cup 2014 and lots of other beautiful memories such as the Legends Tournament in which he participated.
Amidst the fun segments named “Ananmanam” we captured the rarest candid moments during his tours and we learnt of his passions towards football and rugby too. In the next segment called “Fans moment”, one of the key topics that we talked about were his experiences with Mr. Dhammika Prasad while on tour who included many crucial tips and tricks which helped enhance Mr. Herath’s skills with the bat. Finishing off the segments with smiles and laughs, we subsequently reached the end of the session.
When asked if he had anything special to say to us, we were guided by our guest with a most important to live by, made extra special because it was given to us by someone who has truly lived their life. “Be it sport, be it a job, you should always have a passion and love for it and follow your dreams amidst challenges without forgetting to trust yourself”. On a further note, he added that the importance of not repeating your mistakes and going out of your comfort zone when in order to pursue your dreams.
Finally, we had a competitive quiz competition online on the “Kahoot” platform, testing out the cricket knowledge of our audience with the excitement of winning the monetary gifts given at the end of the quiz.
Thus the final chapter of the great initiative Middle Stump’21 came to completion; another successful project of the Sports and Entertainment Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Kelaniya, enclosed with memorable moments of the cricket lunacy.
