'There's good money in the IPL'

If you think that only politicians do their round of temple visits when in distress, think again. Even cricketers, who play hard and party just as hard, call on the gods before a crucial match.

Former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan took mediapersons by surprise when he turned up at the Mahabodhi Temple in the City before an IPL tie.

Needless to say, Dilshan swung the match that evening in his team’s favour. “I am a religious person. I try and visit as many temples as I can in any city and since I am travelling with my wife and kids, the temple visits are a must,” Dilshan says. The cricketer loves to do whatever he wants to its fullest. He loves shopping to start with and you dare not distract him when he’s shopping. “Let me first shop and then I’ll come back to you,” he says during his recent visit to a store. He was too busy shopping to even notice the train of reporters behind him waiting to grab his attention. But the cricketer didn’t budge until he had shopped to his heart’s content.

 He is aggressive on the field and that’s what the spectators got to see in the recent match between the RCB and the MI. It was sheer grit, determination and above all his tactful ways that got him to stay on the field longer than his team mates.

But off the field, Dilshan is as playful as he can get. In addition to doing things related to cricket, Dilshan, who is touring with his wife and three kids, confesses that he relaxes when he’s with his kids.

“I miss my family during the IPL. That’s precisely why I brought them along with me this year, so that we can spend some quality time together when I am not playing. We’ve travelled around, shopped a lot and even explored as many cuisines as we could, seafood being our favourite,” he avers. Dilshan informs that the IPL has made the financial position of a cricketer secure. “There’s good money in the IPL. You earn enough to make a good living complete with every conceivable luxury. It also offers a great experience to young cricketers,” he signs off.