We take a look at some of Sri Lanka’s most promising cricketers who have fallen off the national radar and are eyeing another comeback to international cricket.
1: Lahiru Thirimanne
One of Sri Lanka’s most elegant looking left handers with an almost ‘Sanga’ like eye catching cover drive. He was tipped to lead Sri Lanka at some point of his career with the vice captaincy handed over to him, but repeated failures meant he was eventually dropped from all three formats. He was a consistent performer and a very key component in Sri Lanka’s ODI middle order for a couple of years with four centuries and 16 half centuries under his belt, but it is fair to say he performed well under par in the other two formats. He last represented Sri Lanka in the 2016 June Lord’s test where he managed just 17 runs and he has been struggling for form ever since at the domestic level. With an unsettled Sri Lankan middle order, Thirimanne will be looking for a big domestic season and knows he’s not too far away from a call up to the national side if he plays to his potential.
2: Jeevan Mendis
Age may not be on his side at the moment, but he keeps coming up with eye catching performances in the domestic scene very consistently. His ODI career never really kicked off with just one half century in 54 games though he made some valuable cameos lower down the order for Sri Lanka. With 28 scalps in those 54 games you would think he contributed more as a bowler but it wasn’t what Sri Lanka were looking for at that stage as the middle and lower middle order continued to fail. The rise of Seekuge Prasanna meant Mendis got minimal opportunity at the international level and he last represented Sri Lanka back in February 2015. He signed for Derbyshire in October 2016 as an overseas pro for the 2017 County season and has been impressive with his leg spinner so far. He has picked up 19 wickets in just four matches and is placed 9th on the top wickers list in the Specsavers County Championship Division Two, 2017.
- Akila Dananjaya
Unorthodox spinners and Sri Lanka always seem to sound all too familiar and Akila Dananjaya sparked controversy when he was picked in the preliminary squad for the 2012 World Twenty20, despite never having played a professional match in his life. People didn’t really know if to call him an off break bowler or a leg break bowler since he was able to deliver googlies, carrom balls and even a doosra to go along with his stock deliveries. He has a bit of a fairy tale story behind him as he impressed the Sri Lankan skipper back then, Mahela Jayawardena, at a Sri Lanka practice session, who wanted him fast tracked into the national set up. He eventually made it to the final squad of the 2012 World T20 on the back of some impressive performances in the Sri Lankan Premier League a few weeks away from the tournament. He had a brilliant World T20 including a good spell in the final where Sri Lanka went on to lose by 36 runs. He hardly got any opportunity since then with a total of just five T20’s and one ODI in his international career but he has been knocking on the door with some impressive performances in the domestic arena.
- Kithuruwan Vithanage
An aggressive left-handed middle-order batsman by nature, Kithuruwan Vithanage made his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2013, after an impressive century in the tour game against the same opponents. It was a run fest in Galle and Vithanage had a long wait before his first bat in test cricket and it would eventually come on the 5th day. He was promoted to bat at no. 4 and the stylish left hander did not disappoint racing to 59 off just 70 balls in the drawn game. Surprisingly he failed to impress in the shorter formats having the tendency to throw his wicket away after good starts, though he added another test century against Bangladesh to his track record, but after some off field controversy and a poor run of form the selectors continued to keep him on the side lines. He scored just over 500 runs in 15 innings in the recently concluded Premier League, Tier A Tournament and will be looking to work hard on his game during the off season in Sri Lanka.
5.Ajantha Mendis
When he was first burst on to the scene he bamboozled batsmen around the world and made plenty of Sri Lankan fans believe that an ideal replacement for Muralitharan had been found. His early success was largely built on his variations such as his off breaks, topspinners, carrom balls, googlies and even ones that did nothing. As the mystery started to take its toil, the world caught up with it and he struggled to live up to his early promise. Nevertheless, Mendis at his best was more than a handful as he kicked off his test career with the record for the most number of wickets(26) in a debut test series. Another memorable spell from him would come in the 2008 Asia Cup final where he rattled a strong Indian batting line up with his variations picking up a six wicket haul. He also is a man with two six wicket hauls in T20 Internationals including the record for the best ever figures of 6/08 against Zimbabwe. Injury and bad form has kept him out of the Sri Lankan set up for a lengthy period now but with Sri Lanka still struggling to find a replacement for Rangana Herath, Mendis might want to rediscover his mojo, this time not with mystery but by being a clever spin bowler.
