Who is Nuwan Seneviratne? India's throwdown specialist appointed by BCCI courtesy of Virat Kohli

Team India have registered back-to-back wins in the ODI format in 2023, with the ODI World Cup on the horizon. Virat Kohli appears to have found his rhythm with the bat as he has registered two centuries already in 2023.

Following a massive win by 317 runs to Sri Lanka courtesy of centuries from Kohli and Shubman Gill, the duo thanked three throwdown specialists. One of the three names was Nuwan Seneviratne, a man from Sri Lanka with a humble background.

Rex Clementine, a cricket journalist, took to his Twitter to share the story of Seneviratne's hard work. He told how Seneviratne was first drafted into Sri Lanka's support staff as an assistant fielding coach and his skills were recognised by former India skipper, Virat Kohli. 

India’s coaching staff is entirely local, except for one guy. Nuwan Seneviratna, better known as ‘Bauwa’. He’d played bit of cricket and was running a school van service. After morning drops he’d kill time at NCC where SL ‘A’ team trained. He would help their fielding drills. 👇 pic.twitter.com/vPuyV34cS2

— Rex Clementine (@RexClementine) January 18, 2023

“Nuwan was drafted into coaching staff as an assistant fielding coach. He has an insane gym schedule. Two hours in morning, two hours in afternoon. Senior team coach Graham Ford found he could generate extreme pace doing throw downs,” read one of his tweets.

Nuwan’s speciality was being left-handed. Life was smooth traveling the world. Then, India landed in Colombo in 2017. Kohli spotted Nuwan’s skill set and sent word. BCCI came calling. They offered him ten times what SLC was giving, a deal he couldn’t resist.
That’s a kutty story,

— Rex Clementine (@RexClementine) January 18, 2023

"This is Raghu, Daya, Nuwan - they challenge us every day with 145 kmph, 150 kmph, practice sessions are so intense, make us ready for the match, they had played a big role in my success, so everyone should remember their faces & names so thank you guys,” said Kohli.

Bavuwa hit Kohli on the body and troubled him with his pace and angles: Senanayake

Meanwhile, former Sri Lanka batter Charith Senanayake, who gave Nuwan Seneviratne his first break in the world of cricket, revealed that back in 2017, when India toured Sri Lanka, Nuwan was called by the visitors to help them prepare as he was not contracted with Sri Lanka cricket at that moment. Interestingly enough, the throwdown specialist bamboozled Kohli with his sheer pace and unconventional play angles. As a result, Virat Kohli took some body blows, which immensely impressed the star batter. This meant that on team India's manager and Kohli's recommendation, Nuwan was soon on the flight to India to work with the Asian giants on a full-time basis.

"At nets, Bavuwa hit Kohli on the body and also troubled him a bit with his pace and angles. After the training, the Indian team manager approached me and asked for details about the local throwdown specialist," Senanayake stated.

Besides, the hosts Sri Lanka will take on India in the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. After humbling Pakistan by a mammoth 228 runs, the Men in Blue will look to continue their winning momentum on Tuesday, September 12, in Colombo.