Dilshan Madushanka is a sensational Sri Lankan pacer who was picked up by Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL 2024 Auction for the upcoming season.
Age: 23
Domestic Side: Colts Cricket Club
IPL Team: Mumbai Indians
IPL 2024 Auction Price: INR 4.6 crore
Role: Bowler
Batting Style: Right-handed batter
Bowling Style: Left-arm fast medium
Dilshan Madushanka is a Sri Lankan professional cricketer who was picked up Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL 2024 Auction for the upcoming season. There was a bit of interest from the other teams, but MI seemed determined to bring the pacer home. The owners and the think tank seemed pretty delighted to add Madhushanka to their already impressive pace attack.
Madushanka made his breakthrough in 2021 when he was selected for the Sri Lanka A team for their tour of Australia. He performed well on the tour, taking 17 wickets in five matches. This performance earned him a call-up to the Sri Lanka national team during the T20 Asia Cup 2022.
Birthday: September 18, 2000
Birthplace: Hambantota, Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
Father: Sujith Krishantha
Mother: NA
Siblings: Sudesh Nirmal (Older Brother), Nipun (Younger Brother)
Religion: NA
Spouse: NA
Madushanka was born and raised in Hambantota, Sri Lanka and is the son of a fisherman. Madushanka passed his 10th standard exams and also completed his 11th standard, but soon after, he decided to quit his studies. He took the big decision to focus on his cricketing career. The hard work has paid off as he has earned everyone’s attention on the grand stage.
Dilshan Madushanka was found by provincial coach Manjula Karunaratne while former Sri Lanka fast bowling legend Chaminda Vaas first time spotted this young bowler at Mahinda Rajapaksa International cricket stadium in Hambantota.
In an interview with The Papare in 2019, Dilshan Madushanka disclosed that his father was earlier not a big cricket fan. However, he was able to play cricket regularly because of his mother’s help. In the same interview, Madushanka added that his father now watches cricket regularly.
T20 Cricket:
– 11 matches
– 12 wickets
– 29.41 avg
-9.8 econ
– 3/24 BBM
List A Cricket:
– 25 matches
– 52 wickets
– 21.84 avg
– 5.68 econ
– 5/40 BBM
First Class Cricket:
– 10 matches
– 33 wickets
– 23.81 avg
– 3.61 econ
– 6/33 BBM
Before breaking into the senior national team in 2022, he represented Sri Lanka at the 2020 Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup, where the team finished in 10th place in the 16-team competition. In Sri Lanka’s quarter-final match in the ‘plate league’ (conducted for the 8 teams that did not finish in the ‘Top 2’ positions in the group stage) of the tournament against Nigeria, Dilshan recorded a 5-wicket haul (5/36) in a massive 233-run victory.
He made his first-class debut in 2019 for Colts Cricket Club and played for them across all three formats. At the franchise level, he has turned out for Dambulla Viiking (2020), Galle Gladiators (2021), and Jaffna Kings (2022) in the LPL (Lanka Premier League). He was a key member of the Jaffna Kings squad that had won the LPL title in the 3rd edition of the tournament, in December 2022. He has taken 20 wickets in 22 matches in LPL.
Madushanka made his T20I debut in the first match of Asia Cup 2022 against Afghanistan while his ODI debut happened in January 2023 against India. Madushanka played a key role in Sri Lanka’s qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup, taking 12 wickets in seven matches.
Harsha Bhogle: “A very high-quality new ball bowler. Irrespective of the format, the swinging ball is always a threat.”
Lasith Malinga: “FORMIDABLE! That is the first word that comes to my mind when I see our fast bowling lineup for the #IPL2024. Welcome to MI, Dilshan Madushanka, Gerald Coetzee and Nuwan Thushara.”
Wasim Akram: “He has good potential as a young left arm medium paceman and I am sure he will come up after getting more experience.”
Mahela Jayawardene: “To be honest, I didn’t expect him to have such a good World Cup. I thought it would be a bit too much for him, because it’s his first one-day World Cup.”
Dilshan Madushanka presents Mumbai Indians (MI) with the option to include him in the lineup alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee, forming a potentially dynamic pace trio. His proficiency in swinging the new ball allows skipper Hardik Pandya the flexibility to hold back other pacers. Hardik, himself, could partner with Madushanka for the new ball and later deploy both Bumrah and Coetzee as impact bowlers, providing Mumbai’s bowling attack with a significant advantage in terms of balance compared to other teams.
Mumbai Indians have previously had the privilege of having a renowned Sri Lankan pacer, Lasith Malinga, play for them. Currently serving as the bowling coach for MI, Malinga have observed Madushanka closely and can play a crucial role in his development. As a left-arm seamer, Madushanka has demonstrated his potential with proper grooming and having Malinga as a mentor could prove invaluable. With the additional expertise of Mahela Jayawardene in the coaching staff, they have the potential to bring out the best in the young Sri Lankan talent.
Having already gained experience playing at the Wankhede Stadium, MI’s home ground as well as other venues, Madushanka is familiar with the conditions needed to replicate his World Cup performance in T20 cricket. This prior experience could contribute to a breakout IPL 2024 campaign for the promising young player.
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