Upul Tharanga's selection as Sri Lanka's new one-day opener has brightened a year scarred by the devastating Asian tsunami that ripped through his coastal home.
Tharanga, a 20-year-old left-hander, was left homeless after tsunami waves washed away his family's home in Ambalangoda, a small fishing village on Sri Lanka's west coast.
Fortunately, Tharanga had not been at home on December 26 but had been living in his room beside the Nondescripts Cricket Club gymnasium, his Colombo cricket club.
His family all survived the tsunami waves, which killed over 30,000 in the island, but his father was a fishing distributor and his livelihood was severely affected.
"We lost our house and the family are now all living with our uncle, but thankfully we all survived," Tharanga told reporters soon after his call-up into the national squad for the first time.
More insignificantly, Tharanga also lost a large pile of cricket trophies stacked up during a successful youth career with his school and Sri Lanka's Under 15, 17 and 19 teams and his cricket equipment.
But his friend and team mate at Nondescripts Cricket Club, Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara, helped him back onto his feet financially, aiding him buy the equipment he needed to play first-class cricket.
Tharanga has been fast-tracked into the national squad and in what will be Sri Lanka's first ODI since the Asian tsunami he is now set to make his debut against India on Saturday.
Sri Lanka hope that he will end their search for a one-day opening partner for Sanath Jayasuriya, one of the most troublesome positions in the team during the past few years.
"To me he is a young exciting player who is a natural striker and someone who times the ball well," coach Tom Moody told Reuters on Thursday after Tharanga had stroked an elegant 35 in a day-night practice game.
Tharanga first caught the eye during the Under 19 World Cup last year when he cracked 117 against South Africa and 61 in 42 balls against India in the next game.
