By Harsha Amarasinghe

Perhaps he looks like Niroshan Dickwella and bats like Kumar Sangakkara, and following some consistent hitting displays in the recent past, it is fair to say that Thanuka Dabare is the new kid on the block.

The 23-year-old, though he made his first-class debut nearly five years ago, has not been a standout performer on the domestic circuit. Batting in the top order mostly, the left-hander has only maintained an average of less than 30 in each format, but the former Lumbini College dasher announced himself during the SLC Invitational T20 League, taking on some of the national players.

Representing the Greys, Dabare smashed 66 off 40 balls against an attack which included bowlers such as Binura Fernando, Ramesh Mendis, Nuwan Thushara, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffery Vandersay, Dhananjaya Lakshan, and, of course, Sri Lanka white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka, who eventually dismissed him.

The left-hander, who appears to have a batting stance similar to that of Kumar Sangakkara, carried his form into a longer format, scoring 133 runs off 87 balls with 18 fours and 6 sixers during the SLC Major League Tournament 2022.

While the average of a batsman may not be as important in T20 cricket as in Test cricket or ODIs, Dabare’s brilliant strike rate of 140 in his brief T20 career would have caught the attention of the selectors given the fact that Sri Lanka’s T20 batting woes have been mainly subjected to a lack of power-hitting options upfront.

Perhaps the Asia Cup or World Cup might come too early for young Dabare, but the left-hander has certainly made his case as a potential T20 cricketer for Sri Lanka in the future.

Rotation Master Bandara Returns

Ashen Bandara is best known for his outstanding fielding - arguably the best fielder in Sri Lanka, Bandara lost his spot in the national side following poor form with the bat.

However, since then, the 23-year-old right-hander has been in superb form, accumulating runs in the SLC Invitational T20 League, finishing second only to top scorer Kusal Mendis.

Bandara played well for Police Sports Club as well as Sri Lanka ‘A’ team whenever he was given the opportunity, and one of the most improved areas of his batting is how well he has been able to rotate the strike.

Bandara was dropped from the side earlier on, mainly due to his inability to score runs at a high strike rate, which was down to a lack of strike rotation, which was quite evident. However, Bandara has since been able to rotate the strike very well, which was exhibited during the recently concluded T20 tournament.

The middle-order batsman has well and truly earned his place in the national side. While he may not be in the running for a place in the Playing XI, he is a fantastic addition to the squad considering his fielding and will be a fine replacement should any batsman get injured during the tournament.