Roshen Silva

Not the most gifted or talented batsman, Roshen Silva as a batsman is all about girt and determination. He represented Sri Lanka under-19s in the 2008 World Cup and got runs as well as wickets for the Island nation.

Roshen made his first-class debut in the year 2006 as an 18-year old and has not looked back since then. He has stacked up runs year after year in the domestic circuit and that meant he banged the opportunity door open to represent Sri Lanka at the highest level.

A strong believer in God, Roshen's chances came in 2016 when he was picked for the squad that was to play a three match Test series against the Aussies at home. Lanka went on to win that series and Silva never got a chance to play. History repeated itself when the Islanders travelled to UAE to play a couple of Tests against Pakistan and again Silva, despite being in the squad was overlooked. Again, Lanka had won that series as well.

A squad member of various 'A' tours, Roshen made his opportunity count when he was handed his maiden Test cap against India in the third Test at Feroz Shah Kotla. Roshen got out for a duck in the first innings but played a crucial knock of 74* to bail Lanka out of troubled waters on a day 5 wicket to secure a draw for his side.

He was the Man of the Series in his next assignment in Bangladesh as he also registered a maiden ton in the first Test of the two-match Test series. Lanka won the second Test and won the series 1-0.

by Kumar Abhisekh Das