Chamari Athapaththu named BBL Player of the tournament confounding Australian non-believers. Sri Lanka skipper does her country proud. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports editor).
There have been many adages about never giving up if you want to succeed, but Chamari Athapaththu took it a step further by not just proving the experts wrong. She rubbed it in to the non-believers with a magnificent BBL campaign and claimed the tournaments biggest honour.
Sri Lanka’s Superstar, who has time and again ripped apart the best bowling attacks in the world, was in breathtaking form in Australia’s premier competition for Sydney Thunder earning the award as the WBBL/09 Player of the tournament.
Her consistency with bat and ball made her a standout shading even Australia’s best including the likes of Elyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Ashley Gardner and the rest which included some of the best exponents from around the world.
Athapaththu polled 30 votes edging out Katie Mack 29, Beth Mooney 27 and Annabel Sutherland 24.
Snubbed at the outset in the Overseas Player draft, she grabbed the opportunity presented as a backup and went on to be a first choice selection in the side with a string of top scores confounding many who did not rate her.
South African star Marizanne Kapp opened the door to her by being unwell for the first game, and Athapaththu grabbed her chance with both hands.
Thrilled at her success Athapaththu backed her belief in her ability underlining her mindset that made nothing beyond achieving.
She was almost a lone sentinel over the months prior in success over New Zealand in which a rejuvenated Sri Lanka had their first success overseas. Athapaththu scored two centuries on that tour leading from the front.
She then figured in a T20 series win over England in England for the first time. There again she was the leading run scorer.
It therefore was a shock when Austrlian franchises opted to ignore her good form obviously judging her average performances in Australia as a criteria in previous BBL appearances.
She has silenced her critics and opened the door to many future gigs around the world while endorsing several other Sri Lankan players and calling for the need for more Asian players to be given the opportunity in similar competitions to make the world game more competitive.
Chamari Athapaththu scored 511 runs in the BBL at 42.58 at an extraordinary strike rate of 129.69 and took nine wickets in a stirling allround effort. Not bad at all for an afterthought.
” I’ve being playing good for Sri Lanka as captain recently, and I’ve been keeping the momentum going ” she said.
“Always positive and fearless is my game plan”, she said.
She praised Sydney Thunder Coach Lisa Keightly and skipper Heather Knight who gave her free rein to play her natural game. “Play your natural game and play like the leader you are” they told me”. That was the inspiration she needed to unleash her explosive and exciting talent.
