Nuwan Pradeep

Every young kid from Sri Lanka wants to be a pacer with a slinger action. Nuwan Pradeep is no different. Born in 1986, Pradeep was 20 when he first picked up a cricket ball, which in cricket is too late to start your journey. However, nothing is impossible when you’re inherited with passion, performance, and perseverance, Pradeep is living proof of it. He isn’t gifted with a Malinga-like action but he has all the components required to succeed at the highest level, but fitness and injuries was what cut-short Pradeep’s career. 

The Negombo-born started off his journey with tennis-ball cricket, where learned the art of accuracy and deception, while the pace was also present in his kitbag. The speedster got fast-tracked by Sri Lankan cricket’s pace contest, held in 2007, and he got just a year to make his first-class debut. Three years later, he toured Australia with Sri Lanka A where he clocked some jaw-dropping speeds and was the quickest bowler amongst both sides. 

His success Down Under grabbed the maiden call-up for the tour to India and finally made his Test debut against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in 2011. His white-ball debut wasn’t too far as he made his maiden ODI appearance in 2012. But the injury-prone pacer took four more years to get his T20I cap. As in cricket, the fiercest seamer is the one who gets injured the most, Pradeep is no exception. After being in-and-out from the team for the first two years, the seamer got sidelined and made a comeback in 2015. Pradeep has been a permanent feature in the limited-overs formats, though the longest format became unbearable for him by 2017. 

Pradeep, now, has experience of more than 10 years at the highest level. He might have fewer games than desired, but his ability to bowl quickly with a short run-up, that too with his late swing makes him a valuable asset. And a seasoned campaign like him is a must for Sri Lankan cricket in these hard transition times. 

(As of June 2021)