The surname Tillakaratne carries considerable weight in Sri Lankan cricket. It evokes memories of Hashan Tillakaratne’s dependability, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s innovation, World Cup triumphs, and decades of service to the national side.
Now, another Tillakaratne is trying to earn that name on merit. Seventeen-year-old Limansa Tillakaratne, Dilshan’s daughter, is touring India with Sri Lanka’s Under-19 women’s side for three T20s and three One-Day fixtures, in preparation for the U-19 Women’s World Cup, which Bangladesh and Nepal will jointly host in early 2027.
She hopes to become the latest member of a cricketing lineage while carving out an identity that is distinctly her own.
It’s been a steep learning curve for the outfit in Chennai, with Limansa herself, a leg-spinner, proving expensive with the ball and registering three ducks in the middle order.
Sri Lanka gave a better account of itself in the second game, bringing the margin of defeat down from 93 runs in the first match to 11 in the second, with an improved effort in the field. Limansa even struck timber as she sent back the dangerous Ira Jadhav. India won the third fixture by seven wickets to take the series, with Sri Lanka’s batting weaknesses costing the side.
Tillakaratne Dilshan.
| Photo Credit:
NAGARA GOPAL
Catching the action
Following his daughter’s run carefully, about 600 kilometres away in Hyderabad, is her father, Dilshan, currently with TG20 franchise Khammam Aces for the inaugural edition of the league. Long distance defines this father-daughter relationship.
“When I started cricket, he was actually not in Australia (where the family moved to after his retirement in 2016). I think he was in India and I was playing locally, just for fun. I was bowling, and the ball was looping. I didn’t have a clue about cricket then.
“My mom (Lankan actor Manjula Thilini) said if I enjoyed it, I should keep at it, and she’d send video clips of me playing. One day, he saw something he liked and thought there was talent there work with. That’s how I started playing,” Limmy, as she is fondly called, told The Hindu after her game at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Memories of those early videos draw out a chuckle from Dilshan.
“Limmy began playing at home in the garden. She’d normally hit tennis balls. I didn’t take it so seriously then. I wanted my son to play. After my retirement in 2016, we moved to Australia as a family. I continued playing Legends League and was travelling and my wife would tell me about Limmy’s thing with cricket. She was very keen. During break time in school, she’d play with the boys. One of the teachers picked up on that and took her and my wife to a local club where she signed up and started training. My wife then sent me the videos,” Dilshan told this publication.
“I still have those early videos and still have a good laugh when I revisit them. She bowled all the wrong lengths, used the wrong arm. The ball would bounce thrice. But she was so keen. She’d wake up early to watch matches regardless of her schedule. It was evident she wanted to do something in the game. So, we decided to work hard on that for one year. Every day, two to three hours after school, we worked on her game,” the 49-year-old added.
The youngest
The results then trickled in. In 2021, Limmy, aged 12, became the youngest female cricketer to play at the premier level when she made the U-16 squad for Cricket Victoria.
She then broke into the U-19 Victoria side and played regularly for Melbourne Cricket Club. Dilshan even fondly remembers a century she scored for Victoria. But then, the family patriarch threw his eldest a googly.
“We decided to take her to Sri Lanka. I took her to my club, Bloomfield (Cricket and Athletic Club) in Colombo. We spent time working on her bowling. We tried her out in the U-19 provincial side, where she did really well. Selectors then wanted to pick her, and she made the team for the inaugural U-19 Asia Cup in 2024 and the U19 World Cup in Malaysia last year,” he remembered.
Sri Lanka made the Super Six stage of the World Cup but couldn’t progress to the knockouts, finishing fifth in the final standings. But one memory stands out.
“Sri Lanka beat Australia in the Super Six match, and Limmy won the Player-of-the-Match Award,” Dilshan exclaimed, the irony not lost on him. She took a wicket, giving away just 18 runs in her four overs. She also took two catches and effected a run out in that low-scoring fixture where Sri Lanka defended a paltry 99/8 with a 12-run win.
She eventually finished that tournament with seven wickets, the second-highest wicket-taker for her side behind left-arm spinner Chamodi Praboda’s nine scalps.
Obvious choice
For a young bowler, leg-spin isn’t an obvious choice of speciality.
“She always bowled the googly, and it came naturally for her,” Dilshan, a handy offie himself, explained.
“I thought, developing it into leg-spin would be more advantageous for her, and for any side she might be a part of. It took us a year,” he added, saying small but smart interventions as a coach are needed early on in a player’s trajectory to maximise their success as a cricketer.
“In my bowling, I’m trying to work on my speed. I am trying to bowl flatter and get the ball to turn more,” Limmy explained.
With Dilshan as coach, the conversation turned to batting soon enough. She started lower down the order but soon began opening for her side and then moved into the middle order, especially in 50-over games. Ask her about what tricks her dad has shared with her in the nets, and she asks, “You’re talking about the Dilscoop, right?”
“We’ve been practising it. I practised it first with my dad, and I tried a few in the nets, and it came out really well. I’m just waiting for the right ball in the middle to play it,” she added cheekily.
Country first
Cricketing migrations to Australia are the norm, not away from it. For the women’s game, Australian systems have been the holy grail, led by a senior women’s side that is head and shoulders above its competition. But for Dilshan, that Sri Lankan crest he had worn on his chest for nearly two decades meant more.
“As a Sri Lankan captain, I’m happy for my daughter to play for Sri Lanka. Yes, we live in Australia. Every facility is there. The pathways are very good, and there is no difference between boys and girls. But as a Sri Lankan, I do want her to play for Sri Lanka,” Dilshan stated.
His wife was unsure about the move. But Limmy immediately got on board.
“I remember the first day she had a trial. We landed in Colombo at 11.30 or 12 o’clock at night. It was 2 am by the time we got home. She had a game the next morning. She played, took four wickets, and scored fifty-odd. On the way back home, she threw up while on the road. The time difference and the strain of it were a bit much. But she was ready. She always delivers what I ask of her. There’s no complaining or saying she’s tired,” Dilshan proudly declared.
When performances didn’t go her way, Dilshan and Limmy were out late to hit the nets.
“Even if she’s come back late from a game, if she hasn’t performed well, she’ll say, ‘ Thaathi (Sinhalese term for father), let’s go to the nets.’ That could be at 10 pm. I would have to book indoor nets, and we’d go and train for an hour.
“You can see the change in where her mum is now. She was unsure before, but she’s so happy with how Limmy has come along,” he added.
For Limmy, it is also an opportunity to carry on her father’s legacy.
“I’m actually really proud to be his daughter and to start a career, not because of him, but inspired by him really, and I’m really happy that I have this figure behind me, supporting me and always there for me whenever I need him.”
Limansa.
| Photo Credit:
Lavanya L
Try and be better than me
When she made the national U-19 side, Limmy distinctly remembers Dilshan saying, “You’re following in my footsteps. You have to be better than me. Try and be better than me!”
A day after The Hindu caught up with Limmy, Dilshan looks at her laughing on video as she brushes off the pressure those lines come with and can’t help but smile.
“She’s totally different from me. She’s a leg spinner, I’m an off spinner. I’m right-handed, she’s left-handed. My only message to her has always been that she needs to be a good cricketer in all three departments. When she started playing, she was a very poor fielder. As her father and one of the best fielders in the world, I was a bit disappointed when she would drop catches. We set a target for that too. I heard she was good in one of these games and put in some good stops in the field.”
For Limmy, Thaathi is the north star. Coaches at different levels may give her countless tips, but nothing happens without her father hearing about it and giving his thoughts on its validity. That means the cricketer and coach in Dilshan is always on, but it’s a relationship bedrock he has come to savour.
“I am quite happy that Limansa listens to me. Even when coaches try to change something, she will bring it to me first. I always encourage trying everything. If it doesn’t work, go back to your basics!”
Huge relief
As a father, seeing systems emerge for his daughter to discover her cricketing sensibilities within is a huge relief for Dilshan.
What Limmy can only learn from someone like her father, which is perhaps most important, is managing expectations.
“I’ve told her that sometimes she might get dropped, even if her performances are okay. It’s happened to me too. In 2008, I was benched. I went back to domestic cricket, scored heavily, and won games, but still didn’t get highlighted enough to make it back. I was batting at No.6 or 7. I then pitched myself as an opener to the management. I knew Sanath (Jayasuriya) was retiring in the 2009 season, and that space was there to take. I went back to the domestic scene and scored heavily, batting till the 25th and 26th over.”
“In 2008-09, I got an opportunity to play as an opener, that too in the squad, not the eleven, when we toured Pakistan (now infamous for the attack on the Lankan player bus in Lahore). I piled up runs, got 140-odd, and even won Player of the Series. But I got that chance because Upul Tharanga pulled something just before the toss in the opening game. That opening slot was mine thereafter till I retired. I took risks, but they worked. I always tell Limmy that sometimes, as cricketers, we have to take risks. She knows disappointments, drops will come and understands they are part of the package.”
In the middle of a crucial school year, the Tillakaratne household has allowed her to put schoolwork on hold as she prepares to make the team for the U-19 World Cup once more.
Assignments are being sent from wherever she’s playing in the meantime. The big questions are a headache for after January and Limmy is happy to just focus on being on a cricket field full-time.
