Bipin Dani
Which parents would not be glad to see their son grabbing 5 wickets and giving away only 10 runs in less than 10 overs ?
Vinuja Ranpul's mother glued before the TV on Thursday night and was "pleasantly surprised" to watch her son showing bowling skill in the U-19 QF match against Afghanistan in Antigua.
"(I was surprised) because my son is a batting all-rounder. He is the one down batsman of Nalanda College 1st XI team and scored unbeaten 119 runs and 3 half centuries in the previous U19 school tournament. He was the 5th most run getter in that whole school tournament as well", the mother Deepani Rane, who is a lawyer by profession, said exclusively over the telephone from Sri Lanka.
"Representing his first match in the ICC U-19 World Cup as a bowling all-rounder, I see this as an opportunity to improve his bowling skills too", the mother added.
Vinuja's father Upul Vithanage is a sea-man (now sailing from Scotland to St. Juan Portico). The sailor with Evergas Company had also played cricket for some extent representing the BRC club Sri Lanka. Vinuja was influenced by his father.
His only sister is a 3rd year medical student studying at Faculty of Medicine, Karapitiya, Sri Lanka.
Mahela's pep-talk
Obviously, the entire team was disappointed on losing the match after performing so well till this stage.
Mahela, the team consultant, did console the players, though, one of the sources in Antigua confirmed. "He gave his own example of his playing days when his team lost four times out of five after reaching the final but ultimately won", one of the sources in Antigua confirmed.
