The thing that we love the most about sport is that you get to hear of and see some of the best success stories from across the globe. Whether that’s a rags to riches story or a narrative of someone rising above all troubles to make it big, we consume them all quite happily. A similar story has come to the fore at Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) tournament, particularly within the Melbourne Renegades camp.
An annual event on the T20 franchise league calendar, it’s time for BBL 2022/23 right now which is the 12th edition of the league and one thing that we’ve got accustomed to in this tournament is superb scouting of players. From tennis ball players in Haris Rauf and Dilbar Hussain to completely unknown players like Syed Faridoun, we’ve witnessed the rise of all of these cricketers at the BBL T20…
Melbourne Renegades – Who is Ruwantha Kellapotha?
This time, the Melbourne Renegades scouts have found someone by the name of Ruwantha Kellapotha, and we’re a 100% sure that you’ve not heard of this cricketer in the past. Why?! Because we haven’t heard of him either. He’s not played at international cricket and he’s not even played in any other franchise leagues, not even the Lanka Premier League (LPL T20) back home in his home nation.
So it brings us back to the same question – who is Ruwantha Kellapotha? We can surely tell you one thing, that he’s not some young teenage prodigy who is going to come and set the BBL on fire. In fact, this guy is 31 years old and used to play professional domestic cricket in Sri Lanka nearly a decade ago. Suddenly, Kellapotha got to play some domestic cricket in Australia, and he didn’t let the opportunity go wasted!
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It was October 2022 that Kellapotha was first presented with a chance to play Shield cricket in Australia, and that call itself was a shocking one. His opportunity to make a First-Class debut came a decade after he was first asked to join Victoria’s Marsh Sheffield Shield squad, getting a chance to represent Victoria in their 13-man squad after Scott Boland and Jon Holland were ruled out of a game against WA.
Ruwantha Kellapotha breaks through! ☝️
📺: https://t.co/bNzud4tzf1#RenegadesAcademy pic.twitter.com/JTCvatDnA8
— Melbourne Renegades (@RenegadesBBL) August 17, 2022
The uncontracted spinner was literally plucked out of club cricket, joining Todd Murphy as the other spinner in the side. His performances in Victorian Premier Cricket caused this rise to fame, with his last professional game being for Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club in March 2013. Now, it’s time to ply his trade with the big guns, for Melbourne Renegades at the Big Bash League 2022/23.
Will Ruwantha Kellapotha make his BBL debut?
“My journey to here has been a bit different. I played first-class cricket back in Sri Lanka, came to Melbourne in 2013 to play local cricket and then last year went to Premier Cricket. I’d achieved what I wanted to achieve in local cricket, so I wanted to see what I could do in Premier Cricket. Now I want to see what I can do at the highest level,” said Kellapotha earlier this year. Here’s him bowling the Sheffield Shield:
The winning moment for Victoria!
A lovely googly from Ruwantha Kellapotha sealed the Vics' first win of the #SheffieldShield! #PlayOfTheDay | @MarshGlobal pic.twitter.com/q3LUKV013b
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 4, 2022
18 months ago, the leg-spinner was playing club cricket in suburban Melbourne, and now he’s here. He’s confident and ready, and given his quick ascension through the grades, we think a BBL debut is certainly on the cards. As of now, he’s an overseas replacement player for the Renegades, along with Andre Russell and Martin Guptill, but he’s also pretty close to getting his Australian citizenship.
Local cricket 👉 Premier cricket 👉 Renegades Academy 👉 #BBL12 @Ruwi19911 is a Renegade 😁#GETONRED pic.twitter.com/DiHPe9ZAlv
— Melbourne Renegades (@RenegadesBBL) September 29, 2022
“I really appreciate this opportunity the Renegades have given me to be involved this year. It is a huge privilege and something I do not take lightly. This is going to be a great experience for me, playing with and against some of the best players in the world. I want to be a team player and whatever my team needs, I’ll give it 100 per cent,” said Kellapotha about being signed by the ‘Gades.
So to answer the question of ‘Will Ruwantha Kellapotha play for the Melbourne Renegades in BBL 12?’, we believe he has a high chance of making a BBL debut here, joining other overseas spinners in Akeal Hosein and Mujeeb Ur Rahman in their squad. To check out the complete BBL 12 squads, click here. And for other cricket and sports news from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
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