Dhananjaya de Silva

De Silva is not without talent, as evidenced by his four Test centuries, but it is clear that Sri Lanka need to decide whether he is an opener or a finisher in white-ball cricket to bring the best out of him

The Cricketer | 04/05/2019 at 13:05

Born: September 6, 1991

Role: Right-hand bat, right-arm offspin

Dhananjaya de Silva is the ultimate utility man in the Sri Lankan batting lineup, having spent his most of his ODIs to date as either an opener or a lower middle-order ball striker.

In fact, over the course of the year building up to the World Cup, De Silva has featured at two, five, six and seven so it is no wonder that without a consistent role in the side, he has a decidedly underwhelming batting average and no ODI hundreds to his name.

De Silva is not without talent though, as evidenced by his four Test centuries, but it is clear that Sri Lanka need to decide whether he is an opener or a finisher in white-ball cricket to bring the best out of him.

As a part-time offspinner, de Silva has shown his skills with the ball in first class cricket, picking up 32 wickets at 14.23 for Tamil Union in 2016, and has a handful of ODI wickets at a healthy economy rate in the mid fives, making him a useful option for his side to have.

However, his batting is his main attribute and, as he showed when he scored 84 last year against a South African attack containing Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, he certainly has the ability to star for Sri Lanka on the world stage.

SRI LANKA PLAYER PROFILES

Dhananjaya de Silva

Vishwa Fernando

Dimuth Karunaratne