It’s not easy being Chamari Athapaththu. She’s one of the best batters in the world and a wily spin-bowling all-rounder. She has been the captain of a promising Sri Lankan women’s side for most part of the past decade and has overseen a resurgence in interest in the women’s game from talent and spectators in her nation. And she’s just a kickass entertainer under it all.
An important T20 World Cup is a little over a month away and Chamari has jet-setted all the way to the other side of the world to ring in the last leg of her preparation for the biennial showpiece. She’s in the middle of a rather pleasant Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) campaign for the Barbados Royals.
It must be something about the air in the Caribbean as the player now isn’t one with the crease lines on her forehead one got to see during the Women’s Asia Cup a few months ago. She’s got headphones on, is happy to chat without filters and wears a smile on her face.
“Compared to the other leagues, the WCPL is different. It’s a different vibe here. The way the girls celebrate wickets, the way they rejoice getting to 150. I am enjoying myself because there’s no pressure when we’re playing cricket. The Caribbean conditions, the people are all different compared to other franchises,” Athapaththu, who is representing Barbados Royals this season, beamed on a video call from Tarouba.
When quizzed about who hits bigger sixes between her and Royals captain Hayley Matthews, there’s a big sheepish grin on Athapaththu’s face.
“She’s so good,” the Lankan concedes. “She’s a warrior for the West Indies. Last five, six years she’s done really well for the team. Definitely, she can hit more than me.
A few more names are rolled out -- Harmanpreet Kaur, Sophie Devine and the back-from-retirement Deandra Dottin.
“They are role models for everyone world over.”
Athapaththu knows a thing or two about being a source of inspiration. There was a time when she and veteran Sri Lankans Shashikala Siriwardene and Udeshika Prabodhani were the only ones getting playing opportunities around the world. However, that’s changed. The likes of Harshita Samarawickrama (the second Lankan to play in the WCPL after Athapaththu, representing Trinbago Knight Riders), Vishmi Gunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari have all started catching the eye of leagues worldwide.
When Sri Lanka beat India in a stunning Asia Cup final in July, Athapaththu as usual led from the front with a 43-ball 61 in a 166-run chase for Lanka’s maiden crown. Once she was dismissed, all the captain could do was nervously pace around the dugout, unable to puppeteer anything happening on the field. Harshita and Kavisha did not lose the plot, validating their skipper’s faith in them by sealing an eight-wicket win.
Their consistency has taken some of the heat off Athapaththu, who for long waged a lone wolf battle in moulding the Lankan brand of cricket.
“We’ve built a good culture in the team. We even restructured our domestic system. So we get some good players. Vishmi, Harshita and Kavisha - I hope these girls play their best cricket in the T20 World Cup as well. Now a lot of coaches and other team players are also talking about these three girls, because they’re really good. They don’t have big muscles but they are playing their best cricket in the middle,” Athapaththu observed.
Sri Lanka recently had a mixed bag of a tour of Ireland, drawing the T20I series 1-1 and losing the ODI leg 1-2. But nothing will harsh the mellow of this bunch ahead of the big World Cup in UAE.
“Unfortunately, we lost the ODI series against Ireland. Different conditions there. My girls struggled a lot with the weather. But as a team, we’re in good form,” Athapaththu reiterated.
“We talk only about positive things in our dressing room. We never talk about the negatives. Credit goes to our national coach (Rumesh Ratnayake), who has been a key man behind the scenes for us,” she added.
The last 12 months have been interesting for the young unit under Athapaththu. While retirement conversations have been swirling around her, largely thanks to her cryptic statements on social media, the next wave of talent is eager to prove that they are worthy of carrying forward the legacy Athapaththu, Siriwardene and those before them have toiled to build.
Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu with the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 trophy. | Photo Credit: Asian Cricket Council
One way to do that is by punching above their weight in the upcoming World Cup.
“In the past year, we have played really good cricket around the world. We beat some good teams - England, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies. We lifted the Asia Cup for the first time. So the confidence is high in the group.
“That Asia Cup win…we beat the best team in the world. They have so much experience, and play a lot of franchise cricket. Compared to India, we don’t have those players and still we’ve played good cricket as a team. As a captain, I am so proud of my girls.”
However, it will all be for nothing if the performances don’t come on the biggest of stages and Athapaththu insists on keeping complacency at bay. Being put in the more competitive group alongside India, Australia and others helps towards that end.
“Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan in our group, the last T20 World Cup semi-finals and the final champion in our group. So, not easy. But at the end of the day, anything can happen in T20 cricket. “I trust my girls. One or two players can change the game,” Sri Lanka’s biggest trump card, who has turned many a game on its head, said.
Athapaththu the Lankan captain relishes the opportunity to brush shoulders with the who’s who of the women’s ecosystem. It’s what’s taken her to the Women’s Big Bash League, the (now defunct) Kia Super League, Fairbreak Invitational, CPL and the Women’s Premier League. With a buffet of coaches, playing perspectives and scenarios at her disposal, she has become a calm, confident force who is capable of incredible destruction with ball and bat and now wants those after her to go the same way.
The push for a homegrown T20 league for the women has been on for a few years now and Athapaththu says efforts are moving in the right direction with a T10 league earmarked in the calendar in December this year.
As an individual, playing without pressure feels a bit unnatural for Athapaththu given she’s always played with a weight on her shoulders. The downtime might be just the reset she needs before three weeks of World Cup action in UAE in October.
After the Asia Cup win, Athapaththu spoke about sticking around in the national set up at least until the ODI World Cup next year. If that timeline is to be followed strictly, the sand is moving through the hourglass pretty quickly.
When the victory formalities ended at the Asia Cup, her first major multi-team tournament title as Lankan skipper, Athapaththu had her mother with her and Siriwardene – her first captain who she calls her elder sister – on the phone via video call. In October, when she dons the Lankan blues and steps onto the field for another T20 WC campaign, she will represent the best of the past, present and future of the game in her nation with the hope to push Lankan cricket forward once more.
Watch the Women’s Caribbean Premier League in India on FanCode.
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