Siddarth Ravindran, in ESPNcricinfo
Surprise package: At the time of the auction, Sachithra Senanayake was just another of the many spinners trying to establish themselves in the Sri Lankan side. It took virtually everyone by surprise when he was bought for a hefty $625,000 but he showed he was worth the money by emerging as Knight Riders’ second-best bowler, constantly tricking batsmen with his variations. He played only half the matches this season, as Narine had already cornered one overseas spot, and playing two specialist imported spinners would hamper a squad needing cover in several other departments.
Senanayake Mudiyanselage Sachithra Madhushanka Senanayake
Born February 9, 1985, Colombo
Current age 28 years 101 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Kolkata Knight Riders, Ruhuna, Sinhalese Sports Club, Sri Lanka A, Sri Lanka Board President’s XI
Playing role Allrounder
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Height 6 ft 0 in
Education Ananda College
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 10 | 7 | 3 | 63 | 22* | 15.75 | 70 | 90.00 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| T20Is | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 4 | 25.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| First-class | 66 | 81 | 25 | 1186 | 89 | 21.17 | 2011 | 58.97 | 0 | 4 | 117 | 25 | 58 | 0 |
| List A | 89 | 52 | 17 | 632 | 51* | 18.05 | 754 | 83.81 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 10 | 44 | 0 |
| Twenty20 | 42 | 18 | 6 | 76 | 12* | 6.33 | 92 | 82.60 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 10 | 9 | 474 | 388 | 10 | 2/26 | 2/26 | 38.80 | 4.91 | 47.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 3 | 3 | 54 | 66 | 3 | 2/20 | 2/20 | 22.00 | 7.33 | 18.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| First-class | 66 | 112 | 14492 | 6891 | 346 | 8/70 | 11/180 | 19.91 | 2.85 | 41.8 | 16 | 29 | 5 |
| List A | 89 | 86 | 4255 | 2763 | 141 | 5/23 | 5/23 | 19.59 | 3.89 | 30.1 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Twenty20 | 42 | 42 | 924 | 950 | 56 | 4/26 | 4/26 | 16.96 | 6.16 | 16.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ODI debut | South Africa v Sri Lanka at Kimberley, Jan 20, 2012 scorecard |
| Last ODI | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh at Pallekele, Mar 28, 2013 scorecard |
| ODI statistics | – Statsguru ODI analysis -Player analysis menu/filterODI match list———————————Batting career summaryBatting innings listHigh scoresBatting series averages———————————Bowling career summaryBowling innings listBest innings bowlingBowling series averages———————————Fielding career summaryFielding innings listMost catches in an inningsFielding series statistics |
| T20I debut | Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Hambantota, Jun 1, 2012 scorecard |
| Last T20I | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh at Pallekele, Mar 31, 2013 scorecard |
| T20I statistics | – Statsguru T20I analysis -Player analysis menu/filterT20I match list———————————Batting career summaryBatting innings listBatting series averages———————————Bowling career summaryBowling innings listBest innings bowlingBowling series averages———————————Fielding career summaryFielding innings listFielding series statistics |
| First-class debut | Ragama Cricket Club v Sinhalese Sports Club at Katunayake, Dec 15-17, 2006 scorecard |
| Last First-class | Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club v Sinhalese Sports Club at Kurunegala, Mar 15-17, 2013 scorecard |
| List A debut | Sinhalese Sports Club v Colts Cricket Club at Colombo (SSC), Dec 20, 2006 scorecard |
| Last List A | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh at Pallekele, Mar 28, 2013 scorecard |
| Twenty20 debut | Sinhalese Sports Club v Ragama Cricket Club at Colombo (CCC), Mar 1, 2007 scorecard |
| Last Twenty20 | Kolkata Knight Riders v Pune Warriors at Ranchi, May 15, 2013 scorecard |
| Bat & Bowl | Team | Opposition | Ground | Match Date | Scorecard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/22, 2* | KKR | v Warriors | Ranchi | 15 May 2013 | T20 |
| 1/18 | KKR | v RCB | Ranchi | 12 May 2013 | T20 |
| 2/26 | KKR | v Royals | Kolkata | 3 May 2013 | T20 |
| 0/29, 0* | KKR | v Kings XI | Kolkata | 26 Apr 2013 | T20 |
| 1/50 | KKR | v Mum Indians | Kolkata | 24 Apr 2013 | T20 |
| 7*, 1/18 | KKR | v Super Kings | Kolkata | 20 Apr 2013 | T20 |
| 2/28, 1 | KKR | v Kings XI | Mohali | 16 Apr 2013 | T20 |
| 1/18 | KKR | v Sunrisers | Kolkata | 14 Apr 2013 | T20 |
| 1/29 | Sri Lanka | v Bangladesh | Pallekele | 31 Mar 2013 | T20I # 312 |
| 0, 2/26 | Sri Lanka | v Bangladesh | Pallekele | 28 Mar 2013 | ODI # 3352 |
Sachithra Senanayake is an offspinner who made his international debut for Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI in the series against South Africa in 2011-12. At the time of making his international debut, Senanayake had already taken 297 first-class wickets from 59 matches at a fantastic average of 20.50, and 107 List A wickets at an economy rate of 3.90. In the 2010-11 season, he was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tier A of the Premier League tournament, taking 45 wickets in eight matches at 15.17. He has also shown that he can handle the pressure of limited-over matches: in the 2011-12 Premier Limited-Over tournament, Sri Lanka’s main one-day competition, he was the highest wicket-taker with 16 in six games at 11.18.
Senanayake’s first foray into international cricket was short-lived though, and after several mediocre performances, he was released back into the domestic fold, where he continued to excel. He came back into international focus when he was bought for $650,000 by the Kolkata Knight Riders IPL franchise, largely owing to his reputation of possessing one of the best doosras in Sri Lanka.
A strong performance in the 2013 first class competition earned him a recall for the limited-overs leg of Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka, and he did enough there to earn a Champions Trophy berth.
ESPNcricinfo staff
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