In appreciation for his support to sports in Kalutara, the Kalutara Vidyalaya Past Cricketers’ Association held a felicitation ceremony for cricket coach and veteran sports journalist, Ranjan Paranavithana, at Holiday Resort, Wadduwa last Saturday.

A host of dignitaries were present at the ceremony. Among them were former Sri Lanka cricket captain Sanath Jaysasuriya and Olympic Games silver medalist, Susanthika Jayasinghe.

Paranavithana was the cricket coach of several leading cricket players including Tillekeratne Dilshan, Malinga Bandara, Duleep Liyanage and Sujeeva Silva, who went on to play Test cricket.

He began his career in journalism at our sister paper ‘Divaina’ as a cricket reporter before taking over as the Sports Editor of the Sinhala daily ‘Lakbima’ in 2000.

Of the handful of journalists who covered the historic 1996 Cricket World Cup, Ranjan is one, having reported the tournament for our sister paper, ‘Divaina’.