Rejected by his own country a modest Bhanuka Rajapakse left for the Indian Premier League not only as a player but also as a brand ambassador who plans to rein in cricketers who fall by the wayside
He was kept waiting for nine years, then branded a physical fitness failure, was cut from the Sri Lanka cricket team and ended up in Parliament after hundreds of agitated fans publicly protested his omission from last month’s tour of India.
The stark truth was that Bhanuka Rajapakse was a victim of a political cross-fire between some of the keepers of the sport and political backers who cared little about player welfare and inflate their egos enjoying the kind of luxuries that has made Sri Lanka Cricket a closed-door playground.
Rajapakse’s agonizing wait was unlike any other before him as he painfully counted the years in which he wasted probably the best years of his career hoping for the kind of big break that all cricketers dream of since leaving school.
Now his story of triumph from some of the darkest days that a sportsman can be subjected to has made him the kind of role model that no Sri Lankan cricketer before him was able to be for aspiring youngsters looking for inspiration.
“What I was subjected to I don’t want any other to undergo. It was so hard on me to keep waiting for a call up. There were times I felt like leaving the country. But then when you live in hope, someday it will happen,” Rajapakse told the Sunday Observer on the eve of his departure to play for the Punjab Kings in the blockbustre Indian Premier League (IPL) that has surpassed all other cricket tournaments around the world save only the occasional World Cup which may not have the sparkle of an IPL.
Rajapakse is one of the few cricketers to whom modesty means everything and at the same time proud to have worn the Sri Lanka cap and done it with a clear conscience.
“I waited this long going through an ordeal to play for my country. If I was after money I would never have stuck around and sacrificed so much to play for my country. That is the greatest you can do”, said Rajapakse whose ultimate goal is to spearhead an academy for the rejected and helpless.
He will make no secret that it was a spiritual transformation that gave him the strength to pull through the darkest of times and credits former Sri Lanka Youth wicket-keeper batsman Jerome Fernando as being his greatest fan and pastoral mentor.
“I realised God entered my life and I became so relaxed that I was able to take up the challenges and fight my way out of what I was undergoing. I began to loosen up and so free to go to church. Prophet Jerome Fernando gave me all the spiritual guidance and my wife Sandrine was there for me and what I am today,” revealed Rajapakse.
He is also the keeper of dogs, nine of them from different breeds and some of them strays that he can go back to if he needed any kind of canine therapy to unwind.
Before leaving for the IPL Rajapakse signed up with food maker Chariot as their brand ambassador who will promote their products when he plays in one of the most watched sporting events in one of the most populous countries.
His ultimate goal is to set up a cricket academy with Chariot that he hopes will help to avert the kind of ordeal that he underwent in a torturous journey to wear the Sri Lanka cap.
“There is so much of talent in the country but no proper support system. God has helped us to being who we are today and we have to nurture kids and not expect anything in return other than see them attain their goals.
“It was so difficult for me (to be selected) despite coming from a big school (Royal College). It is all about giving them (budding cricketers) the right guidance,” said Rajapakse.
To make the academy a reality, Rajapakse has found an ever willing backstage team that sees him as their ideal charioteer to drive home hopeful cricketers to a promised land.
“Bhanuka is young and aggressive and what better partnership is there to take us forward”, said Shiran Peiris the spearhead of Asriel Holdings whose flagship is the Chariot brand.