'Try me, I'm here'
Sri Lankan lass playing for the UAE might just be
what her country is looking for in the absence of pros:
by Allaam Ousman
DUBAI: A Sri Lankan teenager born out of the Desert Cubs Cricket
Academy (DCCA) is making giant strides here as a batting all-rounder for
the UAE national women's cricket team.
Born and brought up in the UAE, Kyna Vedhasinghe is the first and
only Sri Lankan to play for the UAE women's cricket team.

Kyna with her awards after the final of the UAE DCC Women’s
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"It was a proud feeling. It was the first step for me to find a way
into pursuing my cricket dream. So starting from UAE, since I have
always been here it was a brilliant opportunity," said Kyna who is now
dreaming of representing Sri Lanka.
"I found that once I get into the UAE team it is a good opening for
me to go to Sri Lanka and continue to pursue my dreams of representing
Sri Lanka as well one day," said Kyna,19, who made her international
debut for the UAE at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournament in
Kuwait in 2012.
"It was a whole new experience for me. It was just the beginning for
me and because they took me as a bowler, I got only a few chances to
bowl," said Kyna who went onto become a regular opening batsman for UAE
by working hard at the nets.
"I started focussing on my batting whenever I came back from my
tours. At Desert Cubs I would focus on my batting and the next few tours
I went as a batsman," said Kyna whose UAE team won the inaugural Gulf
Cup last year.
Kyna got hooked onto cricket in 2010 watching her brother Kirk
practising at DCCA, one of the leading academies in the Gulf and headed
by a former Sri Lanka first-class cricketer Presley Polonnowita.
"I used to play hockey in school. I was always into sports even in
school. During Sports Day, I used to do athletics and then I got into
cricket because I used to watch my brother at Desert Cubs practices. One
day I felt like joining him along at practices and from then on I got
stuck into cricket," recalled Kyna who spoke of her dreams of
representing Sri Lanka.
"It has always been a dream of mine to represent Sri Lanka women's
cricket team if ever I got the opportunity. That's something I want to
pursue once I'm done with my university. I look forward to going to Sri
Lanka and pursuing my dream," said Kyna a member of Colts Cricket Club.
"I will continue playing for UAE as long as I'm here. I want to go to
Sri Lanka or even Australia where there is good infrastructure for
cricket".
Kyna hails from a sporting family. Her mother Christine was a
netballer and athlete at school level in Sri Lanka while her father
Aaron played cricket, rugby and badminton. Retired Sri Lanka great
Mahela Jayawardene is her role model.
"From the beginning when I used to watch cricket with my family, I
always used to look up to Mahela and the way he used to play his late
cuts and pull shots," she said when asked which cricketer she admires
most.
She counts as her best achievement ripping through Dubai College
while representing DCCA. "It was all boys and I was the only girl. I
bowled four overs and took five wickets for 11 runs," she recalled with
pride.
Her most memorable batting performance came in Sri Lanka last year
during a DCCA summer tour. "I had just gone for a practice session with
Colts Cricket Club and a selector, Vanessa, asked me to stay back and
play in a B division tournament to start a week later. I batted and
scored 36 runs in one of the matches. It was like a big thing because I
hit four sixes in that one match," she said heartily.
Her hidden talents as a hard-hitting batswoman came to the fore
despite her lack of experience.
"Most of the time (in UAE) girls cricket is focussed on the shorter
format. In Sri Lanka, it was the first time I got to play a longer
innings - 40 overs and stuff like that. It was a whole new adjustment
for me. It was a really good exposure," said Kyna who has also toured
the United Kingdom and Australia with the DCCA.
She wants to pursue cricket as a career once she completes her
studies by settling down in Sri Lanka or going to Australia.
"Once I'm done with UAE cricket, I plan to settle most probably in
Sri Lanka or Australia where they have a really good cricket
infrastructure. I can always make a career out of cricket. If not, I
always have business as my back-up plan," said Kyna, a final year
student at Emirates Aviation Academy where she is studying Business
Management.
Her talents also drew the attention of Sri Lanka women's cricket
captain Chamari Atapattu when they played against Pakistan in the UAE
this year.
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