5 Cricketers with the longest names

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Chanaka Welegedara
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Sri Lanka’s Chanaka Welegedara delivers a ball during a practice session. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)

What is the purpose of giving someone or something a name? It is simply to address them with that. A name is the first identity a person gets. Apart from these easy and tough names, there are people who have unusually long names.

These people have multiple middle names which include the name of most of their family members and other extra names. These extra names, although if unnecessary, are included and make the initials look very long.

Cricketers are no different from others and many have the extra-long names. Here we list out five such international players who have the longest names.

1. UWMBCA Welegedara – 6 initials:

Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanga Welegedara or simply Chanaka Welegedara is the man with the longest name in the cricketing world. The left arm fast bowler made his Test debut in 2007 and has become a sort of a regular member of the Sri Lankan Test squad in recent years. The 35-year-old’s career never really took off but he has been a prominent name in Sri Lanka’s domestic circuit.

Also read – 20 Most popular ambidextrous cricket stars

2. WPUJC Vaas – 5 initials:

Chaminda Vaas, the legendary left-arm fast bowler, was famous for his swing bowling and ability to snap quick wickets. With over 750 wickets in his international career, he is the second most successful bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to have played for Sri Lanka. But, there was one more things he was remembered for more often. It was for his unusually long name. He has five initials to his name ‘WPUJC’ which transcribes to Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas.

3. MKGCP Lakshita – 5 initials:

Mataramba Kanaththa Gamage Chamila Premanath Lakshitha more famously known as Chamila Garnage was a right arm medium pacer who played for Sri Lanka in 2 Tests and 7 ODIs in 2002. After making his debut in July, 2002 against Bangladesh in Colombo, Gamage could never really seals a permanent spot in the squad and last played at Melbourne against Australia in 2003. His time with the national team might not ne memorable but his name surely is remembered whenever people discuss about the long name.

4. HMRKB Herath – 5 initials:

Sri Lanka’s spin bowling weapon Rangana Herath also has five initials which read in full as – Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath. Herath currently is Sri Lanka’s premier spinner. The left arm spinner has bene carrying the burden of leading the bowling attack ever since the retirement of the Muttiah Muralitharan. His has been very impressive and has built a great reputation by being Sri Lanka’s all-season performer.

5. PADLR Sandakan – 5 initials:

Lakshana Sandakan who full name goes by Paththamperuma Arachchige Don Lakshan Rangiku Sandakan is left arm wrist spinner who recently made his debut against Australia in the first Test in 2016. Dubbed as mystery spinner, the chinaman is very capable of bowling accurately and has a well-disguised googly. He consistent match-winning performances in domestic cricket has made him one of the best future spin bowling prospect of the country.

Sri Lanka
Most number of initials. (Photo Source: Fox Sports Cricket Twitter handle)
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