The Indian Premier League, one of the most lucrative sporting events in the world, has become one of the most important events in the cricketing calendar over the years. The world’s best players along with the best coaches get together on this magical stage and this platform has provided some enthusiastic cricketing experiences for its fans over the years while the extra money floor is verified that players earn a fortune amount of money from this tournament.
Over the last 13 editions of this sporting extravaganza, a lot of Sri Lanka’s best were also able to loom in the limelight across the years where some of them were able to win the headlines over the years with their heroic and incredible performances. In this 14th edition after a long time, a good number of Sri Lankan participants can be seen in this year’s IPL thanks to some magical performances from Sri Lankan superstars such as Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, Dusmantha Chameera, Bhanuka Rajapakse, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana and most recently Matheesha Pathirana who joined the league giant Chennai Super Kings as an injury replacement for Adam Mills.
Hasaranga has risen through the ranks to become one of the deadliest limited over bowlers in the world. He became the world Number One T-20 ranked bowler recently and is playing his second season in the IPL where he represents Royal Challengers Bangalore.
He is proving his value in this year’s IPL season with some outstanding heroic performance where now he is competing for the purple cap (cap for highest wicket-taker) where up to now he has been able to grab 21 wickets in 12 matches in this year’s IPL edition so far where he displayed a superlative performance to pick up 5 for 18 against Sunrises Hyderabad last week. This went into the history books as the second-best spell ever bowled by a Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler in the IPL history.
The most expensive Sri Lankan player of this year’s edition is proving his world-class skills to bring great value to his franchise with his high-class performances so far this year.
Dushamatha Chameera, the speed merchant of Sri Lanka has developed himself from a raw genuine talent to the main fast-bowling threat in the national team over the last few years thanks to his consistency, pace and intelligence.
A white ball specialist who is capable of swinging the ball makes him a valuable asset for any side and that rewarded him where he has been selected to represent the newly established Lucknow Super Giants in this year’s IPL edition. He has been one of the fastest bowlers in the IPL season and an exceptional wicket-taking threat for his franchise where he has taken nine wickets in nine matches so far.
A lot of responsibility and expectations are on the shoulders of this speed bowling typhoon and he is expected to lead the charge alongside the impressive Avesh Kahn and Jayson Holder to take Lucknow Giants to great heights.
Bhanuka Rajapakse, one of the powerhouses in Sri Lankan cricket had a dramatic year where he had lots of ups and downs in his career. But finally he has been rewarded for all his hard work and great performances by booking a place to represent Punjab Kings in this year’s IPL edition where he had some sparkling moments and has become a vital performer for his franchise with some brutal hard-hitting which he is known for.
So far he has scored 201 runs in seven matches with an average of 28.71 and a striking rate of 166.12. His best performance so far was 43 runs off 22 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
A fresh start for a career that has been in a wild run recently and the only hope is this IPL season will be a turnaround season for him to grow into a global ambassador for Sri Lankan cricket.
Maheesh Theekshana is another young prodigy that is labeled as another mystery spin product that came through the Sri Lankan cricketing arena. A young talented spinner who recently established himself as one of the lead spinners of the Sri Lankan national team, he booked his place in the Chennai Super Kings lineup due to his heroic and extremely stunning performances that he displayed in the domestic arena as well as in the international arena.
So far for CSK, he has been able to produce some top performances where he grabbed 12 wickets in nine matches with his best performance being 4 for 33 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Certainly, a lucky steal for CSK for a stellar price of 50 LKH where he is now proving his value by becoming a crucial face of the attack by every means that is possible for his team. Great things are to be expected from him.
Chamika Karunaratne is one of Sri Lanka’s rising all-around talents who already established himself as a player with extreme confidence and a fighting attitude and all that work together with his hard work where he grabbed the attention of Kolkata Knight Riders who picked him up for this year’s IPL season.
He is a naturally gifted hard-hitting batsman who comes with a good profile of a decent seam bowler and good fielder to tick all the boxes of requirements that are needed to be an all-rounder. Followers are all waiting to see what he has to deliver for Kolkata Knight Riders and will he help the team go places this season.
Matheesha Pathirana, a young raw fast-balling talent who rose up through the youth ranks of Sri Lankan cricket, is a player who carries a lot of hope and potential where a lot of followers believe him to be a next-generation talent.
A naturally skilled fast bowler with a Slinga bowling action which is similar to Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga, he has become the backbone of Sri Lankan under 19 fast bowling attack.
Matheesha got his chance to be a part of this lucrative mega-event as a replacement to Chennai Super Kings fast bowler Adam Mills who is out of the season due to an injury. A young lad carrying a lot of promise and potential, it will be a great experience for his career and hopes are that he will be blessed with a good season although he started it a bit late.