Sachithra Senanayake

Another unfortunate spinner from Sri Lanka who showed a lot of promise in the domestic circles but could not justify his potential at the highest level. Sachithra Senanayake emerged as the off-spinner who had one of the best carrom balls that led him to freeze his spot in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs sides for three straight seasons, but action demodulation changed it all. 

Senanayake made his domestic debut back in 2006 but he had to wait for six years to get his chance to don Sri Lanka colors, due to Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. When Senanayake made his international debut, he was already 27-years-old and a veteran with 297 First-Class and 107 List-A wickets. 

The spinner made his international debut against Pakistan in an ODI clash in early 2012 and got the opportunity to play the shortest format in the next couple of months. The spinner soon got his Test cap in 2013, but couldn’t make any statement and finished the game with figures of 0 for 96 at 4.17. He couldn’t cement his place in the Test arena, however, he became Sri Lanka’s go-to bowler in both white-ball formats. 

His eye-catching performances and next-to-impossible variations earned him an IPL contract worth USD 650000 by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2013 edition, where the Sri Lankan could only eight games to bag nine wickets. He was also part of the Sri Lankan team that won the World T20 of 2014. 

A couple of months later, the spinner bagged his best figures of 4 for 13 to make England tumble on their feet at Chester-le-Street. However, a controversy was following the Sri Lankan star as his bowling action got reported on the same tour and got away from the game for five months. 

Senanayake returned in December 2014 with a remodelled action that made the spinner less effective. Since then, he has got only a handful of games at the highest level, though he is still trying to live the dream again. 

(As of April 2021)