Key Highlights
- Crishan Kalugamage, a pizza maker turned cricketer, is part of Italy’s squad for the T20 World Cup.
- The Italian team, composed mostly of non-Italian players, aims to make an impact in Group C with matches against England, Scotland, and Nepal.
- Italy’s head coach, John Davison, known as ‘The Spin Whisperer’, emphasizes the importance of surprise elements in their strategy.
- The team faces challenges such as playing in front of large crowds for the first time and adapting to the pressures of international cricket.
A New Chapter: Italy’s Journey at T20 World Cup
Crishan Kalugamage, a pizza maker turned cricketer, is part of Italy’s squad for the T20 World Cup. The 34-year-old, who moved from Sri Lanka to Lucca in Tuscany as a teenager, has taken 20 wickets at an average of 19.75 in T20 internationals.
From Pizza Oven to Pitch
Kalugamage’s journey is not unique among the Italian squad members. The team is composed mostly of non-Italian players who have known sacrifice and hard work to get where they are today, playing in front of thousands at famous cricketing stadiums like Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and Mumbai’s Wankhede.
For many on the team, the prospect of playing in front of a large crowd will be something of an alien experience. Davison mentions that some players had their first exposure to a cricket stadium during a training session inside Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. The 33,000 seater Wankhede stadium is sold out for Italy’s second game against Nepal.
Building Legacy and Bonding
The team’s captain, Wayne Men, speaks of the bond formed among players from diverse backgrounds. “That heritage and the journeys that guys have gone on to get here, there’s a bond which is pretty hard to describe outside of the feeling that we get as a group,” he says. “We’ve got the players to make that happen and we’re dreaming high.”
For Men and Davison, success on the pitch in this tournament is part of a wider plan to build on the growing cricketing roots in Italy. “We want to win games and we know and believe that we can,” says Men. “If we can finish in the top eight, that’ll change the lives of a lot of our cricketers and put Italian cricket on the map.”
Preparation and Strategy
The team has been working with Dr Andrew Hooton from the University of Derby to prepare for the high-pressure environment. “Some of the squad definitely haven’t had experience of playing in a big stadium, under lights with huge crowds,” says Hooton. “We’ve done some work around ‘centering’. Like when you see Ronaldo before he takes a free-kick or penalty, he closes his eyes and does a whole body breath.”
Despite the challenges, Italy’s head coach John Davison is confident. “The ICC give us about 75 tickets for friends and family, that leaves a heck of a lot of supporters for us to win over, but we’ll be giving it our best shot,” he says.
The team faces Group C with matches against England, Scotland, and Nepal. The next part of the journey is about to begin.
