nanda and Nalanda will clash for the 81st time in their annual Battle of the Maroons encounter on March 6 and 7 at the SSC ground. This is the first time these two teams are meeting after the war.
The sacrifice made by Ananda and Nalanda for the war victory is enormous. It is not surprising that those who led the battle were mostly coming form these two schools. Every Anandians and Naliandians inherits that sense of love for their Motherland from the very first moment he walks into the school as a new student, in the smart white uniform.
The contribution made by these two schools in cricketing arena cannot match by any school in the country. Since obtaining Test status, players produced by both Ananda and Nalanda played a key role in the progress of Sri Lanka Cricket. Majority of the cricketers in the national teams have been from these two institutions which have produced talented and well disciplined cricketers. Furthermore, it is no exaggeration to say that these two schools are capable of raising two teams of Test cricketers from their schools.
So far, Ananda and Nalanda have the honor of producing more than 25 cricketers to the national teams. Among the cricketers produced by Ananda are Arjuna Ranatunga, Anuruddha Polonnowita, Bonnie Wijesinghe, Sarath Wijesinghe, Sonny Yatawara, Sidath Wettimuni, Marvan Atapattu, Aviska Gunawardena,Thilan Samaraweera and Thjilina Kandambi. Nalanda also produced players like Bandula Warnapura, Anura Ranasinghe,Jayantha Seneivrathne, Lalith Kaluperuma,Kumar Dharmasena ,Roshan Mahanama ,Asanka Gurusinghe,Gamini Wicrkramasinghe and Mahela Jayewardena.
Sri Lankan cricket peaked in a short span of 25 years since gaining test status in 1981. Sri Lankan first test captain was a Nalandian Bandula Warnapura and world champion team in 1996 was led by Anandian Arjuna Ranatunga. They entered the finals in 2007 and were led by Nalandian Mahela Jayawardena. Further, old Anandians & Nalandians such as Ana Punchihewa, Upali Darmadasa,Danasiri Weerasinghe, Prasanna Ranatunga, KushilGunasekara, Thilanga Sumathipala, Mahinda Wijesinghe,Karunarathne Abesekara, Premasara Epasinghe, Palitha Perera, Kamal Deshapriya and Prasanna Hennayake have contributed immensely to popularize the game amongst the Sri Lankan rural population. This clearly shows the contribution made by Ananda & Nalanda towards Sri Lankan cricket.
The Sri Lankan national team was considered perpetual underdogs but this image changed completely during the 1996 Cricket World Cup, when Sri Lanka defeated tournament favorites Australia to win it under the captaincy of Ranatunga. This victory, for which Ranatunga was a pivotal part both as batsman and captain, has ensured that Sri Lanka are no longer underestimated on the world cricket stage.And With a fine temperament and an excellent technique, Mahela Jayawardena is capable of playing long innings.
He gave an example of that when he became the first Sri-Lankan captain to score a Test triple-century which came against the Proteas at the SSC in Colombo. He has displayed great leadership skills by guiding his side to the final of 2007 World Cup in Caribbean. Mahela was honored by the ICC as the best international captain in 2006.Still the players like Mutumualige Psuhpakumara,Dinesh Chandimal as well as Mahela Udawatte doing well in domestic and international level.
The inaugural Big Match between Ananda and Nalanda played in 1924 with K.A.P. Rajakaruna, (later Barrister-at-law) as captain of Ananda College and B.S.Perera as captain of Nalanda College. B.S. Perera later played for All Ceylon. But The first encounter between Ananda and Nalanda played at Campbell Place the playground of Nalanda was practically washed of by heavy rain. In 1925 Dr. N.M.Perera and B.S. Perera did captain Ananda and Nalanda respectively and Ananda was defeated in the same year in the Big Match against Nalanda.
This is the 81st battle of Maroons.For this season Ananda had played 17 matches so far winning three against Dharmasoka, Zahira and Dharmaraja and defeated to St Joseph’s last week ,while Nalanda has played 18 matches and has a better winning record than their rivals.
They have played 18 matches winning five against Isipathana, Mahanama, Joseph Vaz, Thurstan and Lumbini MV. The performances of the two teams seem that the Nalandians have the edge over their rivals. Ananda this year is led by Mateesha Perera with Madumal Jayaratne as his deputy. Mateesha has five other senior players in Geshan Wimaladharma, Sachin Dewage, Udesh Nadiranga, Ruvinda Shamen and Sachitra Perera at his disposal. Nalanda this year is led by Dinuk Jayasinghe who will have players like Nipun Karunanayake, Adeesha Nanayakkara, Prashan Wickremasinghe, Suranga Tennekoon and Sineth Gunawardena to guide them.
From the 80 matches that have been played so far Ananda are in the lead with 14 wins against six to Nalanda with the rest drawn. But in most of the big matches the underdogs have fared better than the fancied side.If Nalanda wins they are going to end the 56 year hoodoo of encounter.
- Asian Tribune -
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