{"id":77984,"date":"2022-06-16T01:11:24","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T05:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=77984"},"modified":"2022-06-16T19:35:39","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T23:35:39","slug":"16-year-old-sadasivam-kalaiyarasi-of-kilinochchi-becomes-first-tamil-girl-to-be-selected-for-sri-lankas-women-under-19-cricket-squad-fast-bowler-cum-hard-hitting-batter-braves-poverty-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=77984","title":{"rendered":"16 Year old Sadasivam Kalaiyarasi of Kilinochchi Becomes First Tamil Girl to be Selected for Sri Lanka\u2019s Women Under 19 Cricket Squad; fast bowler cum hard hitting batter braves poverty, poor infrastructure and gender stereotyping with full support of working class parents"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up in her village in Sri Lanka\u2019s northern Kilinochchi district, Sadasivam Kalaiyarasi had one dream \u2014 to play cricket for Sri Lanka. It came true this week, when she made it to the country\u2019s under-19 squad, becoming the first Tamil girl to enter the national cricket arena.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my father who got me interested in cricket and supported me. I\u2019m here because of him,\u201d says the lanky teenager, attired in her dark blue and red training gear. Her recent selection not only highlighted sporting aspirations in the former war zone, but also brought some much-needed cheer to locals who, like many other Sri Lankans, are braving crippling shortages and power cuts due to the national economic crisis.<\/p>\n

A keen follower of cricket, Ms. Kalaiyarasi\u2019s father got his daughter to watch matches with him as a child. Seeing her pick up the game well, local coach Jeevarathinam Priyadharshan focused on honing her skills. \u201cShe is a formidable pace bowler, very consistent and confident. More recently, her batting has also improved a lot. I see her attempting leg side shots that I play, and they are getting better by the day,\u201d says the proud mentor. \u201cIn a zonal match held earlier this week, she hit what, six sixes?\u201d he asks her student. \u201cSeven, sir,\u201d she gently corrects him.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

News of her selection came just a month ahead of Ms. Kalaiyarasi\u2019s 16th birthday. If she makes it to the final under-19 national team from the provisional squad, she will have a good three years to train professionally and play competitive international cricket. \u201cShe is leading in points right now and will certainly get there,\u201d says the coach. Sri Lanka\u2019s T-20 captain Chamari Athapaththu is her idol. \u201cI want to play like her,\u201d Ms. Kalaiyarasi says.<\/p>\n

On Saturday morning, Ms. Kalaiyarasi was meeting her coach at a ground in Vaddakkachchi, about 10 km and two military check points away from Kilinochchi town that was once the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam\u2019s (LTTE) administrative capital. Thirteen years after the war ended, armed military men can be spotted along several roads in Sri Lanka\u2019s Tamil majority north and east.<\/p>\n

It was not a scheduled practice session, as her coach was training a boys\u2019 volleyball team at the time. \u201cIn our society, it is rare to see parents supporting a girl child to pursue a sporting career. But Kalaiyarasi\u2019s parents are an exception,\u201d Mr. Priyadharshan notes. <\/p>\n

Behind her steady rise in cricket and now intense coaching routine is their hard labour. Her father, a daily wage worker in agricultural farms, runs the household, caring for her and her two younger siblings, while her mother left for Kuwait seven months ago, taking up a job as a domestic worker mainly to support her daughter\u2019s training. <\/p>\n

Until recently, Kalaiyarasi didn\u2019t own a good pair of shoes and even now, rarely eats three meals. \u201cI leave for coaching early in the morning and it is hard for my father to finish cooking by then. So I get back and eat at around 4 in the evening,\u201d the young cricketer says. \u201cNo matter what, he fully supports me. At times, neighbours in my village would comment on my wearing shorts and trousers all the time. But my father never told me what girls should dress like or do. Whenever he has the money, he buys me a pair of trousers.\u201d Her father\u2019s support is especially valuable when schools and the wider community see girls taking to sports as unnecessary.<\/p>\n

In Sri Lanka\u2019s post war years, national sports are beginning to see some diversity, according to Mr. Priyadharshan, citing Jaffna-born cricketer Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, now a familiar name in the Lanka Premier League, as an example. <\/p>\n

Despite good talent and committed coaches, sports infrastructure remains grossly inadequate in Sri Lanka\u2019s north, sportspeople from the area have often noted. \u201cEven in Kalaiyarasi\u2019s school, we had to make the cricket pitch ourselves, laying the gravel and levelling it. If sports infrastructure is generally inadequate in the north, facilities for girls are even poorer,\u201d Mr. Priyadharshan observes, however hoping that Ms. Kalaiyarasi\u2019s feat would prompt more schools to take sports seriously.<\/p>\n

As for Ms. Kalaiyarasi, since cricket is serious business, she turns to Tamil cinema for entertainment. A die-hard fan of actor Vijay, she says she has watched his movie Bigil, in which he plays a women\u2019s football coach, 52 times. \u201cMy friends dare not criticise him in front of me, they know I\u2019ll give them a whack,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Courtesy: The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Growing up in her village in Sri Lanka\u2019s northern Kilinochchi district, Sadasivam Kalaiyarasi had one dream \u2014 to play cricket for Sri Lanka. It came true this week, when she made it to the country\u2019s under-19 squad, becoming the first Tamil girl to enter the national cricket arena. \u201cIt\u2019s my father who …<\/p>\n

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