Dasun Shanaka

A talented T20 finisher and a handy bowler, Shanaka has also been of value for Sri Lanka as a captain to rally around. Under him the team won the T20 Asia Cup in 2022 at a time when his country was struggling through an economic crisis.

One of his most memorable T20I innings came ahead of that tournament when he smashed 54 not out off 25 balls, chasing down 65 from the last five overs to beat Australia in Pallekele. Sri Lanka lost that series, but under Shanaka, they won white-ball series against South Africa, Australia and India, at home in 2021 and 2022. Even when he was averaging under 10 with the bat in 2023, Shanaka led Sri Lanka to 13 consecutive ODI wins while missing his top bowlers.

But eventually form was deemed more important than leadership, especially after Sri Lanka's poor showing in the 2023 ODI World Cup, and he was removed as the white-ball captain. He returned to the post ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, but Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the semi-finals and Shanaka's comments about the public's negativity made him unpopular with fans.

He made his international debut in 2015, and in a rare win over India, took 3 for 16 to help bowl them out for 101 in a T20I in Pune early the following year. Seven years later, at the same venue, his unbeaten 56 off 22 balls and two wickets got Sri Lanka another win against the hosts. Shanaka also took a five-for on ODI debut, against Ireland, a month after playing his first Test, in May 2016. His first Test fifty came in 2020 in Centurion in a match where he also bowled nearly 30 overs of his medium pace.

In 2025, Shanaka got into trouble with Sri Lanka Cricket after it emerged that he had left a first-class match early in Colombo to play in the ILT20 in Dubai later the same day.