Becoming schoolboy cricketer was my finest moment, says Nalanda skipper Lakshitha
Lakshitha Manasinghe played school cricket as an all rounder for his alma mater Nalanda College, Colombo. He Captained Nalanda 1st XI Cricket team in 2017/18 and 2018/19 at the Inter-School Cricket season and also went on to represent the Sri Lanka national Under 19 cricket team as well.
At present, he is turning out for SSC in the SLC premier tournament. Speaking exclusively to the Daily News, Lakshitha said “I always preferred to watch the matches since my childhood and that was my first intention to play cricket and that made me enter the world of sports”.
“First of all my parents, elder brother, relatives, my coaches Imal Botheju, Channa Frenando, Nuwan, Thilina kandambi, Vimukthi Deshapriya Thranga Dammika, Roahan Pushpasiri, Sampth, Aluvihare, Prasanna, Keerthi Gunaratne , Lakshan, Shanuka, Ruwan, Hashan Thilakaratne, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Carman Mapatuna, Vipula Sitthamage, Sajeewa Weerakon, Jeewantha Kulathunga has supported me a lot. Hence I’m always grateful to all of them”.
“As I mentioned before, I have always loved to watch Cricket since my childhood and that’s the reason why I chose Cricket”. “I always give my top priority to my family, and that is the most important thing in my life. Today I’m here because of them and then cricket. I always give my best when I’m playing for any team”.
“It is not an easy task when everyone looks at it from outside. I have had to make many sacrifices so far. And we have to think about our discipline, hard work, tolerance, commitment definitely should be there. Whatever may happen, I always give my 100%. It’s not an easy task to be a professional Cricketer but, I am always up to this task”.
“I don’t follow or try to match any other player, because each player has their own different talents and different passions for the game. So I would like to develop my game and I always try to learn things from other players”.
“My favourite cricketers are Aravinda De Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Angelo Mathews”.
“As a young man up to now I think I have done well in the field of Cricket. I played for the first XI team since I was 14, where I was able to play five big matches and I also captained my school Nalanda twice. Further, I was able to get two Man of the match, best batsman, best bowler, best F Ielder awards in these big matches”.
“As a young man up to now I think I have done well in the field of Cricket. I have played for the first XI team since I was 14, where I was able to play five big matches and I also captained my school Nalanda two times.
“Further, I was able to get two Man of the match, best batsman, best bowler, best fielder awards in these big matches. I was also able to get 1309 runs and 77 wickets in the 2019 school season. Also, I scored 960 runs and claimed 53 wickets in the 2018 season. In my last first class tournament I was the second highest off spinning wicket taker with 38 wickets with five, five wicket hauls”.
“Becoming Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy cricketer of the year in 2019 was the greatest accomplishment of my life so far. Because that award always goes to the best player who performs during the inter-school season, hence I cherished that moment very much”.
“In life I like to describe myself as a hard worker who is passionate about the game of Cricket”.
“When I grow up my main target is to play for the Sri Lanka national team. I always try to improve my talents and also try to perform well in the domestic tournaments”. “I want to become the best all rounder in the world with a good heart, and that’s the kind of legacy I would like to be remembered for” concluded Lakshitha Manasinghe.