APPRECIATION -RAJA MAHENDRAN The unspoken godfather for many cricketers

It is with a very heavy heart that I pen down these words of appreciation on late Mr. Raja Mahendran--the man who contributed immensely to Sri Lanka cricket. As a former Sri Lanka cricketer and captain, I was privileged to come under his wings along with several other cricketers of my era. His contributions in cricket and beyond, to me and many cricketers of my era, were simply incredible.

After I left school way back in 1972-73, I came under his wings and he became my guiding light ever since. He not only helped me and others to pursue our careers in cricket but also wanted us to have a career in front of us.

The vision he had for the game was exceptional. I don’t think anyone else had the same passion and vision for the game. Even if they, I don’t think they would have done what Mr. Raja Mahendran had done for the upliftment of cricket--a game that all Sri Lankans love and hold close to their hearts.

Soon after leaving school, I joined Maharajas. But my first stint was not more than few months as I left them for a few rupees more. It was a bad decision and didn’t take much time for me to realise but I was in a spot of bother. I wanted to go back to where I belong, the Maharaja’s, but I did not know how to approach it. So one day I reached out to Mr. Neil Chanmugam, a team-mate at SSC and a director of Maharajas. He gave me a good leathering for my decision to leave the company and I expected the worse when I meet Mr. Raja Mahendran. When I went to meet him, he smiled at me and that smile had everything he had to say. I still can remember that. He offered me the job and told me to have the courtesy to inform him if I was leaving.

Since then, I was with him for almost 30 plus years. Of course, I could not concentrate too much on work as I was playing quite a lot of cricket at the time. He supported me to the tilt.

I was one of many cricketers to get benefited from his kindness, his passion and his love for the game. There were many cricketers who were offered jobs and gave them the freedom to concentrate on cricket. I believe, he is the one who started professional cricket first in Sri Lanka as he looked after all those under him very well.

During our days Mercantile cricket was such a big hit with games that are very closely and keenly contested. Sometimes those games are better than any other game we played. As a keen supporter, he used to come for matches and often for practice sessions. Sometimes I used to tell my colleagues, that I was under so much pressure for playing for Maharajas than playing for Sri Lanka. Because I didn’t want to disappoint him, because he was really behind us to play and play well. Many times, I have disappointed him but many were the times that this great gentleman was happy with my performances.

With these, we were approaching the English tour in 1984--the first visit to England after getting the ICC status. Few months before the tour, Hon. Gamini Dissanayake, who I would say the Father of Sri Lanka cricket, asked Mr. Raja Mahendran to take charge of the team. Hon. Dissanayake wanted to make sure that Sri Lanka hog the limelight during the tour. He knew we had the talent and the ability and what he did was to instill self-belief and confidence.

He used to talk to us about the mental side of the game and kept on motivating us. So, as players we wanted to do something for him. As I said, sometimes the biggest disappointment for us was to upset him and we were determined to perform well. We did that. We approached the tour systematically and when we came to the one-off Test at Lord’s, we were ready to take the bull by the horn. There were some outstanding performances, particularly the 190 scored by Sidath Wettimuny and we drew the match. Everyone was happy with our performances, so was Mr. Raja Mahendran, who was right behind us during the tour. Our performance helped us hog the limelight. We were rewarded after that tour and it all came from him.

He also played a key role in Sri Lanka gaining Test status and we are ever grateful for the work he did to get that. He had done so much for the game and for people like us and this is why his loss is hard to accept. Up until late, even during my current stay in Oman, he used to drop a note of encouragement. In Mr. Raja Mahendran, we have lost a great human being. I sincerely thank him for what he has done for Sri Lanka cricket. We have lost someone so important to us but I think Almighty God has better plans for him and may his soul rest in peace.

Rest well Sir until we meet again.