Sri Lanka has a rich tradition of producing mystery bowlers. The latest joining the list is young left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan, who made an impressive Test debut against Australia in the first match of the ongoing series. Here is a list of 5 such “mystery” wrist bowlers, who had impressive starts to their careers, but eventually drifted away from the international scene.
#5 Somachandra de Silva
The present interim chairman of Sri Lankan cricket, Dandenjyage Somachandra de Silva, was quite a handful as a leg spinner in the 80s. He was part of the 1979 World Cup team, during which the Sri Lankan team recorded their very first international victory. The Indians were beaten by 47 runs in the match and De Silva played a prominent role. He got key wickets of Dilip Vengserkar and Mohinder Amarnath and finished his spell with impressive figures of 3/29.
De Silva, however, was an unlucky cricketer in more ways than one. Age wise, he was on the verge of hitting 40 by the time the Sri Lankans were awarded Test status. This did not allow him to be a part of the side for too long. He played all the first 12 test matches that the Lankans played, before retiring at the age of 42.
De Silva also played county cricket and later went on to become the national coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team.
#4 Upul Chandana
Many from the 90s generation will remember this lanky leg-spinner. Upul Chandana had several tricks up his sleeve during his playing days and was an outstanding fielder. This member of the 1996 World Cup winning team, certainly did not fulfil his potential with only 37 test wickets and 32 ODI wickets to his name at the end of his career. Chandana was also a competent lower-order batsman and scored 12 international half centuries.
This Galle born leg-spinner made his ODI debut at a young age of 21 in 1994. However, he had to wait for 5 long years to be included in the test squad, which happened against Pakistan in March 1999. It was the final of the Asian Test championship and Chandana rose to the occasion with outstanding figures of 6 for 179, bowling 47.5 overs in the innings.
With Muttiah Muralitharan being the main spinner of the side in his days, Upul’s appearances for Sri Lanka became sporadic before fading away completely. In 2004, when Murali withdrew from the tour of Australia, Chandana came into the side as the main spinner and bowled exceedingly well in the 2nd match picking up 10 wickets. The leggie retired from international cricketer in 2007 and later was part of the Indian Cricket League, playing for the Kolkata Tigers.
#3 Seekkuge Prasanna
Seekkuge Prasanna is a man of many talents, apart from being a professional cricketer, he’s also an army officer of Sri Lanka. Prasanna is a very useful leg spinner and is also known for his aggressive batting down the order.
The wily bowler made his Test and ODI debut in 2011, both against Australia, in the same series. His T20 debut came much later, in 2013 against Pakistan at UAE. The right-handed Prasanna played a blistering knock earlier this year in June. He scored 95 of just 46 deliveries, missing Sanath Jayasuriya's record for scoring the fastest century by a whisker.
Prasanna was not in the original squad picked for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, but was called in as a replacement for Dimuth Karunarathne. With the Sri Lankan team constantly juggling their spinners, he has only been part of only 1 Test match and 32 ODIs, in his career spanning 5 years.
#2 Tharindu Kaushal
Tharindu Kaushal is a tall and lanky off break with an air of mystery around him. Kaushal bowls with a distinctive high-kneed action, that allows him to extract a lot of bounce and turn off the wicket. This young spinner, unlike regular off-break bowlers, is a wrist spinner. His bowling action is similar to that of the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan, in fact, the Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews once called him “Duplicate Murali”.
Kaushal’s test debut was in 2014 against New Zealand. His ODI debut came in the high profile quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup against South Africa.
The mystery spinner’s performance in the Test arena has been impressive with five wicket hauls against Pakistan and India. His ‘Doosra’ is a potent weapon and has earned him several scalps. However, following an illegal suspect action he has been banned from bowling his Doosra as it exceeds the ICC’s 15-degree limit.
#5 Kaushal Lokuarachchi
Kaushal Lokuarachchi is a right-hand batsman and leg break bowler who made an exceptional start to his career as an all-rounder. Lokuarachchi was drafted into the Sri Lankan team after their debacle in the 2003 World Cup and many believed that he would soon become a regular member in the squad.
His career, however, came to a halt due to a car accident that he was involved in, which killed a woman. He was given a 4-month disciplinary ban following this incident.
The leg-spinner made a steady return to the international scene in 2004 through his consistent domestic performances. He was part of the Champions Trophy side which played against South Africa. But, he failed to capitalise on Murali’s absence and his career faded away subsequently.
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