New Delhi: The Italian team, participating for the first time in the ICC T20 World Cup, created history by winning against Nepal by 10 wickets. This is Italy’s first victory in the T20 world. The Mosca Brothers were instrumental in Italy’s victory. Both of them played unbeaten half-century innings in a stormy manner for the team, but the real hero of the team was Krishan Kalugamej. Who was chosen player of the match. In the match, Kalugamej took 3 wickets for just 18 runs in 4 overs. Due to his strong bowling, Nepal team was all out for just 123 runs in 19.3 overs.
It was not at all easy for Kalugamej, who wrote the story of Italy’s victory in the T20 World Cup, to reach here. Generally, Italy is known for its football, but with this victory in the T20 World Cup, Italy has now made an important place on the cricket map. In such a situation, let us know about the hero of Italy’s victory who created history for the team.
Who is Krishan Kalugamage?
34 year old Krishan Kalugamage lives in Lucca, Italy, but his roots are linked to Sri Lanka. Kalugamej wanted to become a cricketer since childhood and wanted to play for Sri Lanka, but his dream was shattered when his parents took him to Italy in search of work in 2007. At that time Kalugamej was only 16 years old. His childhood in Negombo, Sri Lanka was spent listening to cricket commentary on the radio with his grandfather and playing cricket with his friends in school. He was also a member of his school’s Under-13 and Under-15 teams. After reaching Italy, Kalugamej’s dream of becoming a cricketer was almost over. Because the popularity of cricket in Italy was nominal.
Crishan Kalugamage
In such a situation, it was no less than a challenge for Kalugamej to adjust himself in the new country and culture. During this time, he also worked in hotels to keep his dream alive, but his love for cricket did not diminish. Taking out time from work, Kalugamej started playing cricket with a tennis ball. Kalugamej initially started playing as an amateur, but gradually transitioned to competitive cricket. Then Kalugamej and some of his friends started playing for small clubs in Lucca. Kalugamej got his first big break in Italy in 2015-16 when he was selected for Roma Cricket Club. This is the oldest cricket club in Italy. Since then he has been associated with this club and with the help of the same club he now got a chance for Italy.
Kalugamej started as a fast bowler
Kalugamej started his cricketing career as a fast bowler. Kalugamej had told in one of his interviews that his height had suddenly increased a lot, so he thought of becoming a fast bowler. When Kalugamej got a chance to play for Italy’s A team, he played there as a fast bowler, but soon he realized that his real strength was leg spin. Then what happened was that he left pace bowling and made spin his weapon.
Crishan Kalugamage
However, injury also played an important role in his transformation from a pace bowler to a spinner. He said in an interview, “I suffered many injuries due to fast bowling, so I decided to become a legspinner in 2021. During that time, Prabhat Ekneligoda, who is the founder of Roma Cricket Club, had a deep influence on Kalugamej. He believed that legspin was Kalugamej’s real talent. The return to spin bowling not only gave a new direction to his career but also gave him hope of staying for a long time.
Kalugamej is a fan of Arvind de Silva and Jayasuriya
Kalugamage tells that he grew up watching Aravind de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya and considered both of them his heroes. As a leg spinner, Kalugamej considers Shane Warne, Wanindu Hasaranga and Rashid Khan as his idols. During the winter session, Kalugamage spent more than a month in Colombo as a net bowler. Because at that time there is no facility of outdoor training in Italy. During this time, Kalugamej had an encounter with Hasaranga and he also gave him very important tips in bowling. After this, last year he also met Rashid Khan in Ireland. He learned to bowl googly from Rashid Khan. Kalugamage had taken four wickets in three matches in Ireland. It was because of his strong bowling that Italy won the T20 International for the first time.
Crishan Kalugamage
Left many jobs for cricket
Playing cricket for Italy has not been easy at all for Kalugamej. Kalugamej left several jobs in Italy for cricket. Because due to work, he could not get time for cricket and he also faced problem of holidays during the tournament. Currently he works at La Vita Pizza restaurant in Lucca from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays he goes to Rome early in the morning for training and returns late in the evening. In between, he takes out time for gym and running to maintain his fitness. After becoming the player of the match in the first win in the T20 World Cup, Kalugamej now hopes to focus on full-time cricket. At present he plays only part time and earns his living by working in a restaurant.