Everipedia Logo
Everipedia is now IQ.wiki - Join the IQ Brainlist and our Discord for early access to editing on the new platform and to participate in the beta testing.
Dhananjaya de Silva

Dhananjaya de Silva

Dhananjaya Maduranga de Silva, or commonly Dhananjaya de Silva (born 6 September 1991) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer,[1] who plays all forms in international arena and for Tamil Union in domestic cricket. In November 2017, he was named the Test batsman of the year for the 2016–17 season at Sri Lanka Cricket's annual awards.[2]

Dhananjaya de Silva
Personal information
Full nameDhananjaya Maduranga de Silva
Born(1991-09-06)6 September 1991
Hambantota, Sri Lanka
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm off break
RoleBatting all-rounder
International information
National side
  • Sri Lanka (2015–present)
Test debut (cap 135)26 July 2016 v Australia
Last Test22 August 2019 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 169)16 June 2016 v Ireland
Last ODI28 July 2019 v Bangladesh
T20I debut (cap 53)30 July 2015 v Pakistan
Last T20I24 March 2019 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
Badureliya SC
Kandurata Maroons
Ragama CC
2016–presentTamil Union
Career statistics
CompetitionTestODIT20IFC
Matches27421382
Runs scored1,6248142575,037
Batting average33.1425.4319.7635.22
100s/50s5/50/40/113/23
Top score1738462173
Balls bowled1,5131,028904,399
Wickets1822582
Bowling average47.7240.8620.0030.25
5 wickets in innings0001
10 wickets in match0000
Best bowling3/253/322/226/33
Catches/stumpings31/019/-4/–89/-
Source: ESPNcricinfo [40] ,26 August 2019

Personal life

Dhananjaya de Silva was born on 6 September 1991 at Hambantota as the second son of the family with one elder brother and one younger brother. De Silva started his cricket career at his first school, Deberawewa National School in Tissamaharama, Hambanthota.[3] He then briefly attended Mahanama College Colombo, before moving to Richmond College, Galle. He played his senior school cricket at Richmond College, Galle and captained the Richmond first XI cricket team in the 2010/2011 season.[4]

His father, Ranjan de Silva was a politician and member of the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. On 25 May 2018, he was murdered by an unidentified gunman in front of the Ratmalana house.[5] With the sudden death of his father, Dhananjaya withdrew from the Sri Lankan squad for the West Indies tour.[6] However, he participated to the tour from second match onwards.[7]

Domestic career

In March 2018, he was named as the vice-captain of the Colombo squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament.[8][9] The following month, he was also named in Colombo's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[10]

In August 2018, he was named in Galle's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League.[11] In March 2019, he was named in Galle's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[12] Following the conclusion of the competition, he was named the player of the tournament.[13]

International call

Debut days

He was named in Sri Lanka's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Pakistan in July 2015.[14] He made his T20I debut on 30 July 2015. He scored 31 runs in his first international match, which Sri Lanka lost.[15]

He made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Ireland on 16 June 2016, as the 169th ODI cap for Sri Lanka.[16]

In July 2016 he was named in Sri Lanka's Test squad for their series against Australia.[17] On 26 July 2016 he made his Test debut for Sri Lanka against Australia.[18] He became the first player for Sri Lanka to get off the mark in a Test match by scoring a six and the fifth overall.[19][20][21] He took his first Test wicket by dismissing Peter Nevill in the second innings of the match.

Cementing permanent slot

His maiden Test century came during the third Test of same Australian tour. Sri Lanka were in trouble at 5/26, when de Silva joined Dinesh Chandimal to secure the side. The two stood a century partnership and de Silva scored his maiden ton of his career.[22] De Silva was the highest run scorer in the series with 325 runs, including one century and one fifty, at an average of 65.00.[23] Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia for the first time.[24]

After Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan retired from ODIs, de Silva was promoted to his slot of opening position. He scored 76 runs in the match. This score stands as the highest score by a Sri Lankan opening the batting for the first time, beating Saman Jayantha's score of 74 in 2004. His poor performances against South Africa made him unavailable for the opening slot, but played as a middle order batsman.

De Silva continued his good performance throughout the two Tests against Zimbabwe. In the first match, he scored a fifty. Zimbabwe made 411 in chasing, with Sri Lanka winning the match. During the second Test, De Silva made a 142-run partnership with Upul Tharanga. Meanwhile, Tharanga was out caught at slip and de Silva continued by scoring his second Test century, in his fifth Test match of his career.[25]

Ups and Downs

With poor performances in South Africa, De Silva was dropped from all squads. He was not initially included in Sri Lanka's ODI squad for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. However, Kusal Perera was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury, and De Silva was called up to the squad.[26] But he could not capitalize his worthiness in the squad and removed from the squad after the Champions Trophy.

He was recalled to the ODI series against India.[27] De Silva was recalled to the Test squad for the third Test against India in 2017. He was dismissed for single run in the first innings. However, in the second innings, De Silva scored his third Test century. Shortly after, De Silva walked off the field with a thigh injury. The match was drawn with India winning the three-match series 1–0.[28] His unbeaten 119 was the highest fourth-innings score by a visiting batsman in India.[29]

During the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong, De Silva scored his fourth Test century, which was his second consecutive century following the Delhi Test against India in the previous year. He along with Kusal Mendis made an unbeaten 187-run partnership at the end of second day of the match.[30][31] On third day, the two piled 308-run partnership until de Silva was dismissed for 173 off Mustafizur Rahman. This was his highest Test score and De Silva passed 1,000 Test runs in 23 innings during the match, becoming joint-fastest Sri Lankan batsman to 1,000 Test runs along with Roy Dias and Michael Vandort.[32] In May 2018, he was one of 33 cricketers to be awarded a national contract by Sri Lanka Cricket ahead of the 2018–19 season.[33][34]

Comeback

Dhananjaya was always in and out with the T20I squad since his debut in 2015 against Pakistan. However, strong performances in Test and ODIs, Dhananjaya was included to the one-off T20I against South Africa on 14 August 2018. In the match he showcased an all-round performance, with South Africa being bowled out for 99 runs, which was their lowest score in T20Is. During the chase, with Dinesh Chandimal, they made a 53-run partnership, guiding the team to victory. Due to his all-round performances, Dhananjaya won the man of the match award.[35]

In April 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[36][37] During the match against England, he took three wickets in nine deliveries to deliver a 20-run win over England. This was Sri Lanka's fourth consecutive win against England in World Cups.[38]

References

[1]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Dhananjaya de Silva". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[2]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Gunaratne wins big at SLC's annual awards". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[3]
Citation Linkwww.sundaytimes.lkNew practice cricket strips for Debarawewa NS, The Sunday Times
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[4]
Citation Linkarchives.sundayobserver.lkRichmond with balanced team, Sunday Observer, 20 March 2011
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[5]
Citation Linkwww.thehindu.com"Father of Sri Lankan cricketer Dhananjaya de Silva shot dead". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[6]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Dhananjaya de Silva withdraws from West Indies tour after father killed by gunman". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[7]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Dhananjaya to return for West Indies tour following father's funeral". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[8]
Citation Linkwww.sundaytimes.lk"Cricket: Mixed opinions on Provincial tournament". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 26 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[9]
Citation Linkdailysports.lk"All you need to know about the SL Super Provincial Tournament". Daily Sports. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018. Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[10]
Citation Linkwww.thepapare.com"SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[11]
Citation Linkwww.thepapare.com"SLC T20 League 2018 squads finalized". The Papare. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[12]
Citation Linkwww.thepapare.com"Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[13]
Citation Linkwww.thepapare.com"Rain spoils Provincial Final after Thirimanne century". The Papare. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[14]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Five uncapped players in SL squad for Pakistan T20s". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[15]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka, 1st T20I: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo (RPS), Jul 30, 2015". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[16]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Sri Lanka tour of England and Ireland, 1st ODI: Ireland v Sri Lanka at Dublin (Malahide), Jun 16, 2016". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[17]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Siriwardana left out of Sri Lanka squad for first Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[18]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Australia tour of Sri Lanka, 1st Test: Sri Lanka v Australia at Pallekele, Jul 26–30, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[19]
Citation Linkwww.espncricinfo.com"Sri Lanka's shortest innings after electing to bat". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM
[20]
Citation Linkwww.cricket.com.au"Debutant de Silva joins exclusive club". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
Sep 23, 2019, 4:11 PM