| Full Name | Warushavithana Upul Tharanga |
| Date of Birth | February 2, 1985 |
| Nationality | Sri Lanka |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Role | Left-handed Batsman |
| Past Team(s) | |
| Family | Nuwan Tharanga and Kumeesha Manori (Siblings), Nilanka Vithanage (Spouse) |
| Match | R | BF | 4s | 6s | S/R | O | R | W | E/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYW vs TXC | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CK vs TXC | 13 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 162.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MVU vs TXC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TXC vs ATR | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 128.57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NYW vs TXC | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Game Type | Mat | Inn | R | BF | NO | Avg | S/R | 100s | 50s | H | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 235 | 223 | 6951 | 9155 | 17 | 33.74 | 75.92 | 15 | 37 | 174 | 798 | 52 | 50 | 0 |
| TESTs | 31 | 58 | 1754 | 3212 | 3 | 31.89 | 54.60 | 3 | 8 | 165 | 239 | 9 | 24 | 0 |
| T20Is | 26 | 26 | 407 | 330 | 1 | 16.28 | 123.33 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 42 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| T20s | 142 | 137 | 3711 | 2918 | 9 | 28.99 | 127.17 | 3 | 20 | 124 | 401 | 125 | 39 | 7 |
| LISTAs | 404 | 387 | 12581 | 16092 | 24 | 34.65 | 78.18 | 29 | 70 | 174 | 0 | 0 | 117 | 2 |
| FIRSTCLASS | 160 | 265 | 9755 | 0 | 13 | 38.71 | 0 | 24 | 40 | 265 | 0 | 0 | 114 | 1 |
| Game Type | Mat | Inn | O | R | W | Avg | E/R | Best | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 235 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TESTs | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20s | 142 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LISTAs | 404 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FIRSTCLASS | 160 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Upul Tharanga is a Sri Lankan cricketer born on February 2, 1985 in Balapitiya. He is a left-handed batsman who is known for his delightful performances in the ODIs. He has been an early starter, playing for the country at an age of around 15.
Background
Tharanga entered the world of cricket at a young age, representing his country at U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels. After quite the innings in 2004, he was called to play for Loughton Cricket Club in Essex.
In 2005, an unfortunate tsunami destroyed his family home. However, he still moved to play for the country in the national team when he was selected.
He played for Sri Lanka national cricket team, Asia XI, Kandurata Maroons, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Ruhuna, Singha Sports Club, Sri Lanka A, Sri Lanka Board President's XI, Sri Lanka Board XI and Sylhet Sixers.
Debut
Tharanga made his Test debut against India on December 18th, 2005. His ODI debut came against West Indies at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on August 02, 2005 and his T20 debut came against England at The Rose Bowl on June 15, 2006.
Low Points
During the March of 2011, Tharanga was caught violating an anti-doping policy that is strictly followed by the international board. However, he pleaded guilty and said that he had no idea that the medicine he had taken contained an illegal drug. He was given a three-month ban.
Tharanga was suspended for two games for taking too long to complete an over. In one game, he took 37 extra minutes than the allotted time.
Captaincy
Tharanga served as the 19th captain of Sri Lanka in the ODIs. He was also the 8th captain for Sri Lanka in the T20Is.
He was temporarily chosen because of the injuries of Angelo Mathews, but became a permanent captain after Mathews finally stepped down on 11th July 2017.
Though his career as a captain seemed to have good potential in the beginning when they beat Zimbabwe by 8 wickets in November 2016, it quickly turned sour at the end of 2017 when the Sri Lankan team lost badly against South Africa, India and Pakistan.
Records
Tharanga is known for his incredible partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya. He is the second batsman in the world who was involved in 200+ partnerships for seven times in ODI cricket, first being Ricky Ponting.
He also holds the record for the maximum number of days between two centuries in a Test, 10 years and 5 months.
