I read an article in the sports section of ‘The Island’ newspaper, titled "Oh, my boy Ajantha" by Revata S. Silva, whose articles are meaningful, which provides an insight into many controversial issues that have surfaced in Sri Lanka cricket in recent times.

Some of his articles may leave a bitter taste in the mouth, to whom he refers to. The picture attached to the article shows the mother and son together. I presume it was taken at the height of Ajantha’s glory, when he broke into the limelight of international cricket, and was the fastest to reach the 50 wicket mark in ODIs and his brilliant performance with the cherry in the Asia Cup, where he humbled the cream of Indian batsmen.

His achievement was the main factor in Sri Lanka’s success in the Asia Cup. Today, that bitter sweet smile on the face of his mother, perhaps reflects the pathetic turn of events that have surfaced in the brief cricketing career of her son.

The 23-year-old who hails from Moratuwa, a soldier in the Sri Lankan Army, found himself promoted to the rank of sergeant and later had a pip on his shoulder, which does signify the rank of second lieutenant, while his brother officers were laying down their lives in the theatre of war.

It is highly unlikely that the lad from Moratu Vidyalaya would have imagined that he would reach the sky, in the tallest tower Burg Manara Ajman in Dubai UAE, in the comfort of his apartment. They say when you climb high the fall is great.

Another sad aspect is that he had joined some of the senior national cricketers, who have made a joke of themselves in appearing in ads which appear on the TV screen, all for the love of money.

Here is a lad who could hardly express himself at the presentation ceremony at the end of a match, now making a mockery of himself on the TV screen.

Has Ajantha jumped into the bandwagon of mystery spinners such as Gleeson, Iverson and Ramadin, whose stints in international cricket were short lived?

Ramadin, who baffled the English batsmen in 1950-51, met his waterloo when two of the world’s best batsmen, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey mastered his art, in the same manner that the cream of Indian batsmen, in their recent 5 ODIs in Sri Lanka did.

His ‘carrom balls’, googlies, off breaks, leg breaks, top spinners and flippers had no impact on them. He could claim only five wickets in the last four matches against the Indians; his average of 39.80 tells the sad story.

Where Ajantha goes from here only time will tell. Could he perform another miracle in the two match Test series in Pakistan? Your guess is good as mine.