Meeting "Little Kalu"

"Tidy but excitable behind the stumps." That's how BBC profiles Romesh Kaluwitharana. I meet him sitting behind a corporate desk now. The cabin has a lovely view of the serene Beira Lake, with the blue-roofed Seema Malakaya temple sitting gently on its waters which wind around tall business buildings and a picturesque ground in the heart of Colombo. "Little Kalu", the darling of the crowds and excitable commentators, is now a business executive with Sri Lanka tourism. He still looks supremely fit and now sports a designer hair style, with hair strands running down in thin lines towards his forehead. He is attired in formals and looks pretty natty indeed.

Everyone knows that Kaluwitharana, known for his feisty cuts and pulls, was a very attacking batsman but he prided himself for being a correct player. Asked once what gave him most pleasure among his achievements, he said: "That I never played a reverse sweep all my life. I always played correct cricket."

He displayed that technique in ample measure during the series that he stormed into public memory. Everyone knows how Kaluwitharana formed an explosive opening combination with Sanath Jayasuriya during the victorious 1996 World Cup campaign. But it was on the controversial tour of Australia, where Muttiah Muralitharan was no balled for throwing, that he made a name for himself as an opener, shredding the bowlers.

During the tour, instead of cricket discussions the team suddenly found itself meeting lawyers instead. "The focus was not on cricket. Arjuna Ranatunga did a great job of getting the team united to play in the ODIs," Kaluwitharana said. After a few games, the team management decided to send Kaluwitharana to open. "I had done it before in 1991 against New Zealand. I only scored 14 but from 12 balls."

However, in this series, Kaluwitharana struck gold and earned the nickname "Little Kalu". "I got three Man-of-the Match awards and grabbed my chance," he said The first person Kaluwitharana called after winning the trophy was his mother. He lost his father when he was seven and it was his mother who supported him to play cricket. And she was ailing then. "She was suffering from Parkinson's disease. She was very proud of my achievements."

The talk shifts to batting with Jayasuriya. "Sanath doesn't talk much in the middle. He would say, 'Play tight. Play tight'. We attacked from both ends. Sometimes when Sanath was going really well I would take singles and watch the great player bat."

How did he manage to incense the Australians? "When Shane Warne and the other Aussies would say something, I would reply in Sinhalese. They wouldn't understand and go mad and say, why you don't say something in English. I might be even saying I love you in Sinhalese with an angry face or say something else with a smiling face. It was real good fun."

He hit a fifty in his last Test in 2004 before retiring. He thought life would get less busy but instead it got more demanding. Kalu wakes up every day at 4.45 am, hits the office gym at 5.45 and is in his seat at 7.30. He works till 3.30 pm before heading to the ground to coach. And in the evening, he is busy managing his pet project, a boutique hotel called Kalu's Hideaway, situated in Udawalle.

He shows me some pretty pictures of the hotel on his laptop. "I learned to use the computer after I left cricket. I would say the job is easier for me than a normal person. I am in PR and sales. Sometimes, with new clients we talk cricket for a while before moving to business.

"When I took off the gloves I did it with lots of happiness. I had my plans for what I would do later." Kalu's BBC profile needs to be updated: the "excitable" wicketkeeper is tidy and calm behind the corporate desk at least.