King Sasanka – Sri Lankan Writer & Retired Aviation Professional.

The Tiger’s Vision: The Extraordinary Life of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi In the annals of sporting history, there are great players, and then there are legends who redefine the very nature of the game.  Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, affectionately known as "Tiger," belongs firmly in the latter category.   His story is not merely one of runs and wickets, but a masterclass in resilience, a saga of a man who looked misfortune in the eye, literally, and refused to blink.   A Royal Pedigree and the Weight of History Born into the lap of luxury in 1941, Mansoor Ali Khan was the son of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the 8th Nawab of Pataudi.  His father held the unique distinction of being the only cricketer to play Test matches for both England and India.  When his father passed away on Mansoor’s 11th birthday, the young boy inherited the title of the 9th Nawab of Pataudi . While the title brought prestige, it also brought immense expectations.  Educated at Winches...

 

 

A " triple hat-trick " in cricket refers to an extraordinary achievement where a bowler takes four wickets in four consecutive deliveries. While the term "hat-trick" typically refers to taking three wickets with three successive balls, a "triple hat-trick" extends that by one more ball and wicket. It is an extremely rare feat in cricket due to the difficulty of dismissing four batsmen in as many consecutive deliveries. Some people may informally use the term "triple hat-trick" to describe even more consecutive dismissals (e.g., five wickets in five balls), but technically, the term applies to four in four. No cricketer has ever officially achieved a "triple hat-trick" (four wickets in four consecutive deliveries) in an international match. However, there have been several instances where bowlers have come close by taking hat-tricks or even four wickets in five balls. Here are a few notable achievements related to multiple wickets in sho...

ක්‍රිකට් ලෝක කුසලානේ වෙලාවෙත් " පර සුද්දෝ " කියලා සුද්දන්ට බනින්න තරම් අපි අමන ජාතියක් වෙලා. සුද්දෝ ආවේ අපේ රටවල් වල තියෙන සම්පත් අරන් ගිහින් පොහොසත් වෙන්න කියන එක රහසක් නෙමෙයි. ඒ උන් ආදරේ උන්ගේ රටට නිසා. අපේ රට හදන්න කියලා ආපු රටට ආදරේ කියලා කියන අපේ කට්ටිය මොකද කලේ? උන් ඉස්සරා දනින් වැටිලා රස්සාවල්, වරප්‍රසාධ ඉල්ලන අය ඇයි "  පර සිංහලයා  " කියලා මුන්ට නොබනින්නේ ඇයි? මේකට උත්තරය හොයා ගත්ත දවසක අපි දිනුම්. නැත්නම් එක්කෝ පර සුද්දෝ කිය කිය දිගටම උන්ටම බැන බැන එහේන්ම කකා බිබී ඉදන්, මැච් එක දවසට විතරක් ලංකා කොඩ් වනමු. නැත්නම් සුද්දා ගෙන් ලැබෙන ආධාර එකෙන් කකා බිබී 2500 ට වැඩි ඉතිහාසය ගැන ලොකු කතා දෙමු. තිරණය තියෙන්නේ පර සුද්දා ගාව නෙමෙයි, අපි ගාව.

When we were in primary level, an extraordinary thing happened while watching a cricket match between Alma Mater and St Benedict’s College and it was played on the home soil. One batsman was given out by the umpire and it was a time when there were no reviews and re-appeals sort of things. So he had to leave. But after he left, the team Captain had a chat with the other team members and with the consent of the officiating umpires decided to recall the batsman who was given out as the team felt that the catch was not taken cleanly. The Captain walked into the visitor’s den and invited him to come back and have a go again. This drama took little time and the match was held and not many were aware of what was going on in the middle of the ground. When the captain and the opposite side player were walking back to the pitch from the pavilion only many realized, what had really happened and there was a dying and disappointing moan from many corners of the ground. The guy who ha...

The man who took a banned terrorist organisation's flag to a highly venerated religious place in another part of the world yesterday is now claiming that he would not allow outsider to create religious disharmony in the country. Those who have helped terrorists and their supporters to slip through the border posts and claim political asylums in another country by taking brides have now become patriots and pledging to protect the country by all means. Man who has done so much to the Sri Lankan Cricket is now being branded a traitor by some who have not done anything to uplift the game in anyway, because he has agreed teach a few foreign guys a few tricks with the Cherry. Men who sold the country’s World Cup dream for money and favours are being branded as Heroes; where the whistle-blower is being branded a traitor because he refused to play a few matches for the country due to a well know injury. Those who have looted billions of wealth from the country are being treated as heroes a...