The nation’s most preferred telco for youth, Airtel Sri Lanka, issued a hearty congratulations to finalists of the Airtel Fastest competition who were selected to play in the Lanka Premier League.
Eshan Malinga – who emerged as overall winner of the Airtel Fastest contest with his unique sling-bowling action – and Rathnaraja Thenurathan – who had reached the final round of the contest – were selected to represent the Colombo Strikers and the Jaffna Kings respectively.
Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest began in February 2019 with 10,000 participants from over 11 districts entering the competition from across the country at the initial trials. With a select pool of 145 bowlers, the competition progressed through its different levels while asserting a 360-degree approach to hone the full potential of these fast bowlers.
From their first health and fitness screenings to on-site training camps and even their very first strength and conditioning sessions, the fast bowlers advanced through the competition under the guidance of Airtel’s superstar coaching team comprising of Anusha Samaranayake, legendary death bowling sensation Lasith Malinga, and icons of the Sri Lankan game Chaminda Vaas, Hashan Tilakaratne, and Upul Chandana.
“When we launched Airtel Fastest, back in 2019, we wanted to take this mission a step further, by creating a national platform to uncover, showcase, and hone Sri Lanka’s most promising pace bowling talent. Since then, we have watched with pride as our contestants went on to represent teams both locally and globally. We take this opportunity to wish both Eshan and Thenuruthan our warmest congratulations and the best of luck in the upcoming tournament. All of team Airtel is rooting for you!” Airtel Lanka CEO/MD Ashish Chandra stated.
In addition to Eshan and Thenuruthan, two more alumni of the Airtel Fastest contest had previously gone on to compete at some of the highest levels of the game. This includes winner of the ‘Airtel Sri Lanka’s Fastest’ Female Open category winner and fellow sling-bowling prodigy Shayani Senarathna having represented Sri Lanka at the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Teams Asia Cup.