Some stars are born with magical talent, while some carve their way to greatness through hard work, dedication, and belief. For a long period of time, Sri Lankan women’s cricket was unknown, or it can be said their women cricketers were hardly receiving the recognition they deserved. Then came Chamari Athapaththu, who not only made the name of the Sri Lankan women’s team proud but also equally started making her mark in league cricket as well.
Recently, while playing in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League, she made sure her team went unbeaten and won the tournament, as she stood out as both their best batter and bowler. Representing Barbados Royals, Chamari was adjudged Player of the Tournament after scoring 196 runs in five games and picking up seven wickets.
Chinelle Henry, who was the stand-in skipper for the team after replacing the injured Hayley Matthews, spoke about how Matthews had called her to hold the fort before going on to heap praise on her star player, Athapaththu.
“there was a lot riding on it,” when the WCPL began and Royals had to cope with the loss of regular captain Hayley Matthews. A shoulder injury left her on the sidelines and Chinelle Henry in the hot seat.
“When she [Matthews] called me and asked me to be captain [because] she wasn’t going to be available, it was quite like, ‘yeah, just give me a moment to think about that’,” said Henry before the finals.
“But I guess when [Matthews] asked, she was like, ‘you probably could be that person, because you have been around the team all the seasons before, as a senior player in the squad’, [despite] all the overseas players that we’ve had and even the captain in her own right in Chamari Athapaththu, who’s been brilliant helping me in the field in terms of decision-making and stuff like that.
“Hayley is a big character, both on and off the field, and she has done a lot for us as a franchise. I think the girls have really stepped up. We’re in our fourth final, so that’s really something to talk about.
Henry, while speaking about Chamari, mentioned that she is very passionate about what she does.
“We have a lot of big characters in this group, and she is very passionate, and she loves what she does,” Henry said of Athapaththu. “To be the opener for this team and constantly coming up with runs for us and in the middle, when we are bowling, you can call on her and be like, we need to break a partnership or something, which happens, you know.
“She is that person, you know, whenever you call on her, she puts up her hand and is ready to perform and is ready to do her all for the team. With somebody like her, a lot of us, a lot of the younger ones that we have, we really look to her in terms of advice, how she plays, how she thinks when she goes out, and she keeps it simple.”
