Sri Lankan cricketing stocks on rise again

• Team and players move up in ICC rankings
• Win 11 out of 14 bilateral series in all formats

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

2024 has so far been a fairly good year for Sri Lankan cricketers with several of them entering the top 10 in the individual player rankings in all three formats and the team in general also progressing up in the rankings as well.

In all three formats of the game for 2024 Tests, ODIs and T20Is Sri Lanka has played 14 bilateral series and won 11, losing only 3.

Their losses are Test series to England (2-1), ODI series to Bangladesh (2-1) and T20I series to India (3-0). 

On the contrary they have beaten Afghanistan (1-0), Bangladesh (2-0) and New Zealand (2-0) in Tests, Zimbabwe (2-0), Afghanistan (3-0), India (2-0) and West Indies (2-1) in ODIs, and Zimbabwe (2-1), Afghanistan (2-1), Bangladesh (2-1) and West Indies (2-1) in T20Is.

The success was partly during the first six months of the year when Chris Silverwood was the head coach, and the next four months after Sanath Jayasuriya replaced him in that position.

Nevertheless, both coaches have played their parts to help Sri Lanka lift itself from the depths it has sunk over the years, to once again gain the consistency that was lacking in all three formats.

In the current team standings, Sri Lanka finds itself 5th in the Test rankings, 7th in ODIs and 8th in T20Is. It is only in T20Is that Sri Lanka has yet to show some improvement.

In the ICC World Test Championship rankings, Sri Lanka finds itself in 3rd place behind India and Australia and with a good chance of qualifying for next year’s final at Lord’s if they can win three of their last four Tests against South Africa (2 away) and Australia (2 home).

There have been significant changes in the individual rankings. Figuring among the top 10 is Pathum Nissanka, who takes pride of place being ranked 7th in the ODI batting and 8th in the T20I batting, while in the Test batting rankings Kamindu Mendis has broken into the top 10 being placed 9th.

The T20I rankings sees two Sri Lankan spinners inside the top 10. Maheesh Theekshana has moved to no. 3, with spin partner Wanindu Hasaranga at 6.

In the Test bowling rankings, left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya occupies joint 6th position with Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon. It is only in the ODI rankings, that no Sri Lankan bowler figures in the top 10. The best position attained so far is by Maheesh Theekshana, who is placed 12th.

In the Test batting for the calendar year, Kamindu Mendis with his extraordinary run, requires 57 runs to complete 1,000 Test runs for 2024. He currently occupies 4th position with 943 runs at an average of 94.30. He has two Tests in South Africa in November-December to get to that milestone, in what has been a remarkable year for him.

Pathum Nissanka is top of the pops in the ODI’s batting, leading the way with an aggregate of 654 runs (avg. 72.66) and an impressive strike rate of 107.38. His three centuries for the year includes, a double century (210*), the only batsman to get past that mark for 2024. Following closely behind Nissanka are team mates, Charith Asalanka (552 runs) and Kusal Mendis (525). They have three more ODIs against New Zealand at home later this month to improve on their individual stats for the year.

Kusal Mendis is Sri Lanka’s top run getter in T20Is with 570 runs at a strike rate of 131.94. But he lies 6th in the overall batting, where the top 3 positions are occupied by batters from Japan, Hong Kong and the USA.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga tops the ODI bowling with 26 wickets (avg. 15.61) edging out Canadian seamer Dilon Heyliger who has the same number of wickets but at higher average. Hasaranga is also Sri Lanka’s leading T20I bowler with 28 wickets (economy 7.37), but overall, in 10th place. The leading wicket-taker is Ehsan Khan of Hong Kong with 46 wickets.

Prabath Jayasuriya has taken the most wickets for Sri Lanka in Tests. His 38 wickets taken from seven Tests at an average of 30.97, places him in 5th position.