Cricket runs in the blood for Shavon Daniel. A left-handed top-order batter and right-arm off-spin bowler widely regarded as a player who could break into the Sri Lanka senior team.
His father and uncles played at domestic level while his elder brother Jehan and cousin Ashian Daniel both represented Sri Lanka Under-19s, Sri Lanka emerging teams and Sri Lanka A.
“I was very fortunate that I was born into a cricketing family and had the support of all my close relatives,” Daniel told The National during the Sri Lanka’s U19 tour to Abu Dhabi for games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
“All of them helped and nurtured me in my cricket journey and if I have reached the level that I am in right now, it’s all because of them. I started playing cricket when I was around five and joined the Sinhalese Sports Club Academy [known as SSC] a year later.
“I watched almost every match my brother and cousin played during my growing up days. I loved to watch the games and took a liking to playing myself and that’s how it all started.”
Daniel captained Sri Lanka U19 on their Abu Dhabi tour, in which his side narrowly missed out in reaching the final in the tri-series won by Bangladesh before going down 2-0 in the series against Afghanistan that followed.
The highlight of Daniel’s tour was his swashbuckling 115-ball knock of 140, studded with six sixes and 10 fours, against Afghanistan in the final game of the tri-series, which they lost by four runs when chasing 323.
“I couldn't do much in the first three games but I wanted to get a performance to win this game for my team. We lost that game [but] we could have won,” Daniel lamented.
“As the captain, I also wanted to get my team another win or two on tour. That could have been a wonderful achievement.
“Winning and losing is part of any game but I think we did pretty well overall as an inexperienced and young side. We came very close to winning a couple of games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.”
The series were also Daniel’s last tour as an U19 player as he looks ahead to making his mark in top-flight domestic competitions.
Daniel first played for his school, St Joseph’s Colombo, in the U13s. He graduated to the U15s when his talent was spotted and promoted to the school’s first team at the age of 14. He scored 114 in only his second game against Maliyadeva to book a permanent spot in the first team.
“That’s the time I realised I had a journey ahead. It motivated me to work even harder,” he recalled of his promotion into the first team.
“What I’m enjoying now is the hard work that went I went through at that time. I will keep working hard and perform at every game that I get the opportunity to play. I’m hopeful I’ll get the breaks for the work I have been doing.”
Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara was Daniel’s role model when his cricketing career was blossoming.
“I watched and followed his game more closely and absorbed all the good qualities of him to improve my own game,” he said.
“I started playing club cricket from 2021 and that’s where I need to perform and pursue to improve my level from now on. I believe in hard work and focus on the game and my career ahead. Hopefully, I can achieve my goal, which is to get into the Sri Lanka team.”
His U19 coach on the tour Jehan Mubarak insisted Daniel has the potential to play for his country at senior level.
“Shavon has played in the U19 World Cup and Asia Cup already, and played in the Lanka Premier League. He plays for his club in first-class,” Mubarak said.
“We named him as the captain in this tour to prepare him as a leader. He has a lot of talent. Not very often, we come across a talent like him at the U19 level. He ticks most of the boxes to potentially make it into the national team.”
Daniel played for Gujranwala Giants in the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Junior League in 2022 and had a breakout tournament with the bat scoring 176 runs in five games. Rajasthan Royals invited him for their training camp ahead of the 2023 Indian Premier League.
