Dilshan Madushanka

Born on September 18, 2000, in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, Lokumarakkalage Dilshan Madushanka is a bowler who plays for Sri Lanka. He is a left-arm fast-medium bowler who is one of the soaring stars of the young Sri Lankan bowling attack.

Madushanka has taken inspiration from his icon former legendary Sri Lankan left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas and has taken a leaf from the veteran’s book of left-arm pace bowling. He is lethal upfront with the new ball and has created a great impression in the international cricket arena.  

Dilshan Madushanka: Along the Years

Dilshan Madushanka Records

• Highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka Under-19 in ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2020

• Fifth-highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka Under-19 in ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2020 after Ravi Bishnoi (IND U-19), Shafiqullah Ghafari (AFG U-19), Akhil Kumar (CAN U-19 and Tanveer Sangha (AUS U-19)

• Second-most expensive player in Lanka Premier League (LPL) history after Matheesha Pathirana

• Fourth Sri Lankan bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Cricket World Cups after Ashantha de Mil, Chaminda Vaas, and Lasith Malinga

• Highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 (21)

• Third-highest wicket-taker in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 after Mohammed Shami (IND) and Adam Zampa (AUS)

• Third-best career strike rate in ODIs (25.31) among full-member nations after Ryan Harris (AUS) and Corey Anderson (NZ)

Dilshan Madushanka Awards and Accolades

• Nominated for ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year Award 2023 along with Gerald Coetzee (RSA), Yashasvi Jaiswal (IND) and Rachin Ravindra (NZ)

Dilshan Madushanka Career

Dilshan Madushanka has started his cricketing career as an impactful bowler. He can be a destructive left-arm pacer with disciplined lines and lengths and proper grooming.

Dilshan Madushanka Domestic Career

Dilshan Madushanka made his First-Class debut for the Colts Cricket Club on March 13, 2020, in Colombo. After having a decent outing in the first innings, Madushanka rattled the Negombo Cricket Club’s batters as he took a six-wicket haul on FC debut in the second innings. The match ended in a draw, and the tournament was eventually called off due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Madushanka made his T20 debut for Dambulla Viiking in the Lanka Premier League on December 09, 2020. He had a pretty expensive outing and managed to pick a solitary wicket of Ahsan Ali as Viiking won the match by 4 wickets. In LPL 2023, he was signed by the defending champions Jaffna Kings for a whopping USD 92,000, making him the then-most expensive player in LPL auction history. A year later, the record was broken by his national teammate Matheesha Pathirana in the LPL 2024 auction.

Madushanka made his List-A debut a couple of years later for Sri Lanka A against Australia A on June 08, 2022 in Colombo. He went wicketless as Sri Lanka A lost by 7 wickets.

Dilshan Madushanka IPL Career

Following his exploits with the ball in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Indian conditions, Dilshan Madushanka was offered a lucrative deal when he was sold to Mumbai Indians after having a bidding war with Lucknow Super Giants for INR 4.60 crores. But to his dismay, he was ruled out of IPL 2024 due to an injury and was replaced by South Africa’s Under-19 star Kwena Maphaka.

Dilshan Madushanka International Career

Following the footsteps of his idol Chaminda Vaas, Dilshan Madushanka has shown promise as an emerging star in the making for his national team who could do wonders in the future. However, frequent injury concerns have laid back his international career and have restrained the left arm from announcing himself with the talent he has gotten.

Dilshan Madushanka ODI Career

Dilshan Madushanka made his ODI debut against India on January 10, 2023 in Guwahati. He had a mediocre maiden outing but managed to pick the wicket of Indian captain Rohit Sharma. 

Madushanka had to miss the Asia Cup 2023 owing to an injury and Sri Lanka finished as the runners-up at home. With promise at the helm, he was drafted into the squad to represent Sri Lanka at the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023. The 23-year-old pacer from Hambantota justified his selection as he was the sole shining spot in an otherwise dismal campaign for the 1996 Cricket World Cup champions.

The Lankan pacer was the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 21 wickets, only behind India’s Mohammed Shami and Australia’s Adam Zampa. Madushanka impressed with the ball against the host India and became the fourth Sri Lankan bowler after Ashantha de Mel, Chaminda Vaas, and Lasith Malinga to take a five-wicket haul in CWCs. He leaked 80 runs but got rid of the in-form Rohit Sharma in the opening over with a cracking deliver and got the prized scalps of Indian batters Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer as well and denied their centuries in the process.

Dilshan Madushanka Test Career

Dilshan Madushanka made his Test debut against Pakistan on July 24, 2023, in Colombo. It was his only Test and went wicketless as Sri Lanka lost the match by an innings.

Dilshan Madushanka T20I Career

Dilshan Madushanka made his T20I debut in the T20 Asia Cup 2022 in the opening match against Afghanistan. He did not have an international debut to remember as he bowled just an over and conceded 10 runs with Sri Lanka losing the match by 8 wickets. He had a decent tournament by picking 6 wickets in 6 matches, including an impactful 3/24 against India in the Super 4 where he sent former Indian captain Virat Kohli back to the pavilion for a duck by castling the stumps. With that performance, the left-arm pacer was instrumental in leading Sri Lanka to that elusive title. 

However, a quad muscle tear ruined his dream of representing Sri Lanka as he was ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2022. Madushanka was selected to play in the T20 World Cup 2024 but did not get a game to play as Sri Lanka crashed out of the tournament in the group stage itself. 

Dilshan Madushanka Under-19 Career

Dilshan Madushanka played in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2020 and was the highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka Under-19 with 13 wickets on the board, including a five-wicket haul against Nigeria Under-19.

Dilshan Madushanka’s Family

Born to a fisherman Sujith Krishantha, Dilshan Madushanka had to work the hard yards to earn a career in professional cricket. Though his father was uninterested in his son playing cricket, it was his mother KG Nilanthi who backed him during his early days.