As Sri Lanka struggle to keep pace with India in the ongoing Test in Colombo, two of the country’s cricketing icons have offered fans a nostalgic reminder of a very different era.
A video of 55-year-old Upul Chandana taking a stunning diving catch off Arjuna Ranatunga’s bowling during a charity match has gone viral on social media.
The moment has attracted particular attention for Chandana’s remarkable athleticism and Ranatunga’s dramatic physical transformation.
Chandana appeared to have lost little of the physique and athleticism that made him such an outstanding fielder during Sri Lanka’s golden era. At 55, the former all-rounder launched himself into a full-length dive to complete the catch, producing a moment that looked remarkably similar to the kind of athletic fielding he was known for in the 1990s.
Ranatunga, meanwhile, has undergone a striking transformation since his playing days. , leaving him almost unrecognisable to fans who remember him leading the national side in the 1990s.
The game was part of Northampton Saints’ preseason tour of Sri Lanka, with a selection of the English rugby club’s players joining forces with their Asia Pacific Lions counterparts. They took on a star-studded team of Sri Lankan cricketing greats at Thurstan College Grounds in Colombo, with the match raising funds for the Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation.
The event provided a unique meeting between rugby players preparing for a new season and some of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated cricketers.