Wanindu Hasaranga

A draft straight from Sri Lanka's under-19s into the national side, Wanindu Hasaranga had a dream start to his international career when he claimed a hat-trick on ODI debut in June 2017 - making him only the third debutant and the first leg-spinner in history to do so. It was a sign of things to come as he would emerge as the go-to wicket-taking option in the limited overs formats, and in various T20 franchise leagues, over the years.

Hasaranga started off in the age divisions primarily as a leg-spinner, impressing in the 2016 Youth World Cup. His batting, though, soon came to the fore as he raked up impressive figures in the two seasons of the Premier League tournament for Colombo Cricket Club. The national selectors were further impressed as the form translated into List A success and he finished the 2016-17 season with the 'Most promising player' award. After his ODI debut, he carried his form into the 2018 season, emerging as the leading run-scorer for Colombo Cricket Club with 765 runs in nine matches in the Premier League tournament.

Having shown his credentials as an all-round package - which included his electric fielding abilities as well - Hasaranga started to get more and more opportunities at the highest level. While he missed the cut for the 2019 ODI World Cup, where he was named among the reserves, he made his T20I debut later in the same year. He would go on to find great success in the format, becoming the second-fastest bowler to reach 100 T20I wickets, accomplishing the feat in just 63 matches. One of the highlights of his career came on the biggest stage as he finished as the highest wicket-taker in the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE.

With a deceptive googly and an attacking approach with his leg-spin, Hasaranga became a sought-after name on the T20 circuit. He enjoyed a big payday in the IPL when RCB bought him for a whopping INR 10.75 crores in the 2022 auction. The allrounder delivered the goods, picking up 26 wickets and having an economy rate of 7.54 that season. Although he couldn't replicate his success for RCB in the following year, he was sensational in LPL 2023 where he finished as the leading run-getter and leading wicket-taker to help B-Love Kandy lift the trophy. However, that success came at a big cost as he sustained a hamstring injury during the tournament which ruled him out of the ODI World Cup in India a couple of months later.

Even as Hasaranga's stocks grew in the limited overs formats as he was named captain of the T20I squad in late 2023, he wasn't the same force in red-ball cricket, playing just four Tests for Sri Lanka before announcing his retirement from Test cricket in 2023 at the age of 26.