Lakshan Sandakan

One of the rare trades in cricket, Lakshan Sandakan is one of the best upcoming chinaman bowlers from Sri Lanka. With the ability to turn the ball either way with immense control over his skills, he makes it very difficult for the batsmen to pick his awkward action. The turning point that put his career on the right growth trajectory came in the 2013-14 First Class season, when he made the switch to play for Colombo Cricket Club. He finished at the top of the wickets chart with 54 scalps at a miserly 19.14. He followed it up with another stellar season the next year with 45 wickets.

The selectors could no longer ignore the talent he possessed and awarded him with a place in the Sri Lanka ‘A’ squad to tour England. With Sri Lanka playing on turning tracks at home against Australia in 2016, he was picked as the third spinner and got off to an impressive debut with four wickets in his first outing. He went a step ahead in the T20Is, getting a wicket off the very fist ball he bowled - hence becoming the first Sri Lankan to do so.

In a wretched series for Sri Lanka against India at home in 2017, Sandakan was one of the few bright spots. He bagged a fifer in the third Test at Pallekele, making him the first chinaman in 14 long years to get to a five-wicket haul in Tests. With a calm head on his shoulders, he promises to be one to look out for in the future, especially with the role to lead the Lankan spin attack set to open up very soon.

Vineet Anantharaman