Jeffrey Vandersay

Jeffrey Vandersay, a leg-spinner, was born in Wattala, a large suburb of Colombo city, started to bowl spin even before he knew the definition of leg-spin. In addition to his stock ball which is leg-spin, he has subtle variations like the top-spinner, googly and a slider. Although he doesn't get carried away by his variations, he is a bowler who relies on spinning the ball as much as he can.

He burst onto the scene when he scalped 8 wickets in a three-day game against Pakistan. That performance also paved the way to make his international debut for his nation. He was named in the T20I squad against Pakistan in the home series in 2015. A few cricket purists in Sri Lanka cited that he should have been tried in the Tests. However, the nerves of playing international cricket got the better of Vandersay as he failed to make a mark in the couple of chances he got.

But he had a fantastic T20 World Cup in 2016 after he was flown in as a replacement for Lasith Malinga. In his first game against the Windies, Vandersay picked up a wicket and gave away only 11 runs in his four overs. He was frugal against England and South Africa as well. The 2014 World T20 champions though did not make it into the semis.

Of the first 11 ODIs that he played. Jeffrey did not play a single game at home, meaning his deliveries never had the purchase it could have on home turfs. The returns still were decent but he did not feature in the ODI or T20I series against India in late 2017. But was flown in as a cover for Rangana Herath for the third and final Test at Delhi.

He admires Shane Warne's bowling and his all-time cricketing favourite is Sri Lanka's legendary player, Kumar Sangakkara.

By Raju Peethala and Kumar Abhisekh Das