Wanindu Hasaranga
Wanindu Hasaranga – professional Sri Lankan all-rounder
Promising 23-year-old Sri Lankan cricketer Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (Wanindu Hasaranga) is approaching the status of the next sports superstar. Already today, a professional player defends the national team’s colors in all formats of cricket, gradually replacing former top players.
Wanindu Hasaranga: early career
Hasaranga was born on July 29, 1997, in Galle in an ordinary family. The father always supported the desire of both his sons for sports, so Chaturanga and Wanindu found themselves in professional cricket.
Hasaranga was educated in his small homeland at Richmond College, after which he began his professional career. Success on the field did not take long to wait, which allowed him to go to Bangladesh for the Cricket World Cup (CWC) (U19) as part of the youth team in 2016.
Wanindu Hasaranga: home career
Wanindu Hasaranga made his professional debut in November 2015 as part of the AIA Premier Limited Over. Excellent statistical indicators allowed the bowler to get to the national selection, which he confidently passed. In this regard, in December 2015, the Sri Lankan player joined the national team, with which he went to the CWC (U19) in Bangladesh in 2016.
Hasaranga got his first experience in first-class matches in February 2016, playing at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority club in the 2015-16 season. The bowler has proven himself so well that in 2017 he was awarded the most promising player award. In the same year, he moved to Sylhet Sixers, representing the Bangladesh Premier League.
In March 2018, he took part in the 2017-18 local Super Four tournament as part of the Colombo national team and then played in the Super Provincial 2018. Represented Dambulla’s squad in August 2018 at SLC T20 2018
According to the results of the Premier League Tournament 2018-19, Hasaranga was recognized as the leading scorer of Colombo Cricket Club, having made 765 runs in nine matches. In March 2019, the athlete was included in the Galle squad for the 2019 Super Provincial ODI tournament. Since October 2020, he has represented the Jaffna Stallions club. In the debut season of the Lanka Premier League 2020-21, the Sri Lankan became the best player of the tournament, taking 17 wickets.
It can be mentioned that Wanindu’s older brother, Chaturanga de Silva, also represents Jaffna Stallions and the national team.
Wanindu Hasaranga: international career
In July 2017, the athlete was included in the squad for the ODI series against Zimbabwe, where he instantly scored a hat-trick thanks to taking three wickets in the last three innings. This allowed Hasaranga to make history as the third ODI debutant to score a hat-trick (after Taijul Islam and Kagiso Rabada). In addition, this achievement allowed him to become the first Sri Lankan player to promote the leg-spinner technique.
The debut match in the T20I team took place in September 2019 against New Zealand, followed by a series against Pakistan. Thanks to the partnership and dedication, the Sri Lankan national team celebrated victory in the final 13-round match. Wanindu received the prize of the best player of the third match and subsequently of the entire series.
In the series against Pakistan in March 2020, Hasaranga again demonstrated his versatility by taking crucial wickets at the right time. He also received the award of the best player of the second and third matches, and then the title of the player of the entire series. Thanks to his personal success, Sri Lanka won with a score of 3-0.
In March 2020, the bowler scored 44 points in a T20I meeting against the West Indies. Unfortunately, even the coordinated actions of teammates Kusal Perera and Wanindu could not lead the Sri Lankan national team to victory.
Hasaranga made his Test debut in December 2020, when he took part in a series against South Africa. The bowler has 4 wickets and 171 runs. In the second serve, the athlete made the first Test fifty.
