Weekly Talent Spotlight #7: Nuwan Thushara
Nicknamed “Podi (small/little) Malinga” for his very similar action, can Thushara also have a just as similar career trajectory as the great Lasith Malinga?
DISCLAIMER: THIS WEEKLY TALENT SPOTLIGHT EDITION IS FOR THE WEEK OF 26TH NOVEMBER-6TH DECEMBER.
He has the curly hair, he has the thick eyebrows, he has the slingy action, but does he have what it takes to disprove the “looks can be deceiving” proverb?
Constructing The Roots
Hailing from Ambalangoda in the Galle District, Nuwan Thushara’s father was a helper at construction sites. His family was unable to afford to enroll Thushara in school, and Thushara never played with the leather ball growing up.
Thushara played U23 cricket for Sinhalese Sports Club in the three-day, two-day and T20 formats in the 2014/15 and 2016/17 seasons respectively. Notable teammates include Binura Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Chamika Karunaratne and Ramesh Mendis.
Thushara made his First-Class debut on December 26th, 2015 for the SSC in the 2015/16 AIA Premier League Tournament against Sri Lankan Army Sports Club. His T20 debut came just about a bit over a week later in the 2015/16 AIA Premier League T20 Tournament, where he took figures of 2-24 in 3 overs against Galle Cricket Club.
Thusara rose to some form of prominence in 2017, when he gained attention for his slingy action in the SLC U23 Inter-Provincial Tournament final playing for Western Province North.
Though his performance with the ball in the final was far from memorable, people were impressed by the eerie resemblance of Malinga in his action. Thushara revealed that the action came to him naturally.
“I used to bowl with a soft ball when a friend, who used to play competitive cricket took me to Colombo. There, I first played for Sinhalese Sports Club before moving on to Colombo Cricket Club. People say I must have copied Malinga but this action was how it has been since the start, as a boy,” Thushara said.
Back home in Ambalangoda, Thushara was certainly the Maligna of soft ball cricket, as batsmen found it difficult to score off him.
“People always said I should try to play leather-ball cricket but somehow I didn’t know how to go about it.” he said.
In Colombo, Thushara had the opportunity to meet the man himself, where he taught him how to bowl slower deliveries, strategizing before bowling, and how to effectively deploy the slinging yorkers.
“I have been watching him for quite sometime now. I’m teaching him now. He has a long way to go,” said Malinga.
Thushara made the switch from SSC to CCC in the 2017/18 season, where he played for their U23 team as well as for the senior side, although he is more of a limited overs option for the latter.
The Colombo Cricket Club captain, Ashan Priyanjan (who has represented Sri Lanka in 23 ODIs and 3 T20Is currently) saw the potential in the then 23 year old.
“He has to learn how to bowl with a red ball. He will learn probably in next couple of seasons. We don’t want to expose him to a red ball at the moment. It’s natural that once you have action like Malinga, you will attract people. But he has time. He needs to increase his pace as well. At the moment, he can touch around the 135 kmph mark, but if you want to play higher cricket he needs to get more,” Priyanjan said.
The Slingy Beginning Of Thushara’s T20 Career
In the 2017/18 SLC T20 Tournament, Thushara was the 12th highest wicket taker and overall the third highest for Colombo Cricket Club, scalping 10 wickets at an average of 14.70 with an economy rate of 7.35.
Colombo Cricket Club also played in the season’s final against Nondescripts Cricket Club, and Thushara reminded people about Podi Maligna with figures of 4/32 in 4 overs, including the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella for 1.
Thushara also made his List A debut during the 2017/18 season in the Premier Limited Over Tournament against Burgher, with figures of 1-7 across 2 overs.
Thushara made a switch to Badureliya Sports Club for the 2018/19 season and saw his name rise up sharply on the leaderboard during the SLC T20 Tournament, finishing the season as their top wicket taker and overall the fourth highest, taking 13 wickets at an average of 11.00 with an economy rate of 7.15.
Bangladesh Emerging Tour Of Sri Lanka
In August 2019, Thushara was selected for an Emerging series against Bangladesh, with the Bangla Tigers being the tourists for 3 unofficial ODIs. The coach of the team, Chaminda Vaas said that with the proper guidance, he can play just as well as Maligna.
“I have seen Thushara Nuwan only at club matches but he is not in the Sri Lanka high performance fast bowling system. He has a unique style similar to that of Lasith Malinga. We don’t need to change his style and if we guide him properly, he will be able to play like Lasith Malinga.” said Vaas.
Unfortunately, the series was not an ideal outing for Thushara, with 2 wickets across 2 matches with an average of 29.00 and an economy rate of 6.82.
Notable teammates of Thushara include Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kamindu Mendis, Minod Bhanuka and Amila Aponso. Notable tourist players include Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Afif Hossain.
The Continuation of a Slingy T20 Career
For the 2019/20 season, Thushara went back to Colombo Cricket Club but carried on his fiery form from the preceeding season, tying as the second highest wicket taker with 14 wickets at an average of 15.57 with an economy rate of 7.51, playing a fair hand in helping the CCC reach the final against Chilaw Marians Cricket Club, with Thushara taking a wicket for 17 runs in 2 overs.
In the MCA Premier League T20 Tournament, Thushara scalped 5 wickets across 5 matches averaging 20.00 with an economy rate of 6.74 for MAS Holdings, finishing as the 8th highest wicket taker.
Thushara’s performances slinged him to a spot for his home franchise in the Lanka Premier League, the Galle Gladiators, drafting him in Round 15.
Originally, Thushara was set to share the dressing room with Malinga, however he eventually pulled out citing “inadequate preparation time.”
The bridge from bowling to domestic batsmen to the likes of Andre Russell, Paul Stirling, Shoaib Malik and Brendon Taylor proved to be too overwhelming for Podi Malinga, as he finished the season with returns of 4 wickets at an average of 37.75 and an economy rate of 8.39 in 5 matches. However, Thushara’s season best figures of 2/8 in 2 overs came in a must-win match against Kandy Tuskers, where he dismissed openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and captain Kusal Perera for 4 off 13 and a second ball duck respectively to help the Gladiators reach the playoffs.
How Similar To Malinga Is Thushara Really?
A comparison of the two at ball release shows that Thushara has a more round arm release than Malinga, which means he will get more dip than him due to the lack of backspin and additional outswing due to both his shoulder angle and the extra sidespin.
It can also be seen that Thushara’s head is falling over, while Malinga’s head is not. With Malinga’s head not falling down, he is able to see the movement of the batsman until post ball release as well, which aids in bowling accurate lengths.
Now let us see what the naked eye can catch, using current day Thushara’s bowling action with 27 year old Malinga’s using real time GIFs.
With the naked eye, it can be seen that Malinga’s runup is far quicker (he bowls a 143kph delivery in this instance), while Thushara is bowling a delivery in the low 130s in this instance. The disparity in speed can also be seen by the ball release speed towards the end of each respective GIF.
Both are bowling over the wicket, and the sling position of each bowler is virtually the same so to the naked eye, Thushara’s bowling action is indeed a carbon copy of Malinga.
If you are interested in an in-depth analysis of the specific differences seen in slow motion, consider reading through this thread.
Why was Thushara selected for Weekly Talent Spotlight?
During the week of 26th November-6th December, Thushara took figures of 3/46 in 5.1 overs across 2 matches averaging 15.3 with an economy rate of 8.90 in the Lanka Premier League for Galle Gladiators. The wickets include Nissanka, Kusal Perera and Wahab Riaz.
Though Podi Malinga is yet to perfect the art of pace bowling like the Sensei himself did at his age at the higher level (LPL for Thushara currently), the fundamentals for him to succed is certainly there. When perfectionists of the art such as the Sensei and Vaas themselves have seen the spark in Thushara to succeed, one cannot be surprised when the time arises for a quality Thusara purple patch.
With continued proper guidance (Umar Gul is the head coach for the Gladiators this season) and working on his momentum (hint hint), perhaps the time is not too far when the cutthroat world of T20 cricket is blessed with another slingy staple after Malinga.