Asela Gunaratne

Asela Gunaratne is another cricketer from the reverse all-rounder’s bank of Sri Lanka. He is a batting all-rounder who plays delightful strokes square the wickets, while he also provides balance with his military pace bowling. 

Gunaratne first came in the domestic set-up back in 2008, when he made his First-Class and List-A debut for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club. However, the all-rounder took four seasons to find his consistency and when he found it, there was no stopping him. Gunaratne averaged more than 50 in three consecutive seasons of the four Premier League Tournaments between 2012 to 2016.

In 2016, when Angelo Mathews suffered from an injury, the Kandy-born all-rounder got the opportunity to represent his country. Gunaratne made his T20I debut against India at Visakhapatnam. Later that year, he was asked to make his Test debut against Zimbabwe. On debut, Gunaratne scored an impressive half-century and bettered his performance by smashing 116 in his second Test outing. Later on that tour, the all-rounder made his ODI debut as well.

In 2017, the Kandy-born was named in the T20I squad to tour South Africa and Australia. He showed some good form in the ODIs against the Proteas and continued that in the shortest format against Australia. He notched up back to back half-centuries to seal the series Down Under. The overseas performances helped him bag an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians for the 2017 season.

In mid-2017, the Lankan suffered a fracture in his left thumb during the tour of India. Gunaratne made a comeback, after six months, in early 2018 but the injury woes continued - as he sustained a grade II rotator cuff strain with a contusion in Bangladesh. 

Gunaratne hasn’t been selected in the national team since then. However, the all-rounder has been a regular in the domestic competitions in Sri Lanka. In August 2021, he was named in the SLC Reds squad for the SLC Invitational T20 League tournament. 

(As of August 2021)