It’s clear that those decade-old cricketing memories need an urgent update as Kaluwitharana in a starched white shirt and stripped tie extends his hand from behind his desk. While his old associate at 39 still gives nightmares of new ball bowlers, the 38-year-old co-founder of that no-holds barred radical opening tactic that took the world cricket by storm in the mid-90s and is still widely followed, has moved on in life after his early retirement. Besides being a business development manager of Sri Lanka Insurance he has a coaching assignment in Malaysia and also runs a holiday bungalow in the countryside.

He isn’t your 100 Test and 10,000 runs kind of a former great but someone who gave 100 reasons for several thousand fans across the world to make a beeline to the stadium when he walked out to bat with Jayasuriya. The buzz around the stand was hard to miss when Little Kalu— a nickname that Tony Greig extended to the opener during the frenzy of the 1996 World Cup — took guard. There have been several players in history who have scored more than his 1933 Test and about 4000 ODI runs but a few had a greater impact on the game as Kalu or have the popularity to be called the people’s player. “People don’t remember me for my centuries but the way I played my game,” he says.

In the years to come this cricket-crazy island will throw up more freaks, mavericks or audacious stroke makers but Kalu will retain his place in history as the man who changed the concept of opening batting — an innovation that resulted in Sri Lanka coming of age in the World Cup. In this slam-bang age, the Kalu-Jaya formula is worthy of making it to cricketing text books.

Ask him about the early days of the new experiment and Kaluwitharana paints a vivid picture. “I was batting at No.7 but Arjuna Ranatunga, Duleep Mendis and coach Dav Whatmore suggested that I should open. We were both stroke players and our idea was to attack the bowlers”.

Finally, it’s the mention of IPL that makes Kaluwitharana a bit pensive. “Actually, I had a few years left in me. But with Sangakkara in the wings, I retired. T20 would have been a new challenge, but I have no regrets,” he says as looks at his watch. In his starched shirt and stripped tie, Sir Kaluwitharana remains as busy as Little Kalu.