10 facts about Suranga Lakmal: The wily Sri Lankan pacer

Sri Lanka, over the years, has always managed to provide good pace bowlers. Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan have been a prominent part of the legacy of Sri Lankan bowlers over the years. In Suranga Lakmal however, they have found a bowler from the Glenn McGrath tradition. In spite of not really having the height to extract the similar sort of bounce McGrath did, the wrist position and the action are simply identical. On his 29^th birthday, we take a look at a few facts about Suranga Lakmal, the wily Sri Lankan pacer.

1. Birth:

Ranasinghe Arachchige Suranga Lakmal was born on the 10^th of March 1987 at Matara, Sri Lanka.

2. Personal Life:

Lakmal comes from a Sri Lankan-Tamil family. He is married to Dilani Chalanika.

3. Attacks in Lahore:

Suranga Lakmal broke into the Sri Lankan team for the first time in 2008. He was included in the side that toured Pakistan in 2008/09. The tour was called off due to an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus at Lahore. Lakmal was reportedly among the players who were injured during the fire battle between the Lahore police and the terrorists.

4. ODI debut:

Lakmal made his much anticipated ODI debut against India at Nagpur in the second ODI of the bilateral series. He conceded 57 runs in 8 overs despite the Lankans picking up a 3 wicket win.

5. Test Debut:

He made his Test debut against the West Indies at the R Premadasa Stadium in November 2010. He picked up 2 wickets in the first innings as the match ended in a stalemate.

6. Expulsion from ODI side:

One of Lakmal’s biggest drawbacks was his stamina and inability to bowl long spells. The lack of nutrition was quite common with fast bowlers coming from outside Colombo and soon after Lakmal was inducted into the academy, the coaches worked on developing his stamina.

7. Return against West Indies in October 2015:

Suranga Lakmal marked his return to competitive cricket after an injury layoff, with two wickets for 10 runs from his 11 disciplined overs on the 15^th of October 2015.

8. Chandika Hathurusingha’s pick:

He was one of three players marked for the future by Chandika Hathurusingha in 2008 when he coached the A side. Hathurasingha currently serves as the coach for the Bangladesh national team.

9. A case of bad stamina:

Sa’adi Thawfeeq, a journalist for Cricinfo wrote, “Despite his natural ability, Lakmal had one big deficiency in that he lacked the stamina to bowl long spells and on occasions he did, he regularly fell ill. The lack of nutrition was quite common with fast bowlers coming from outside Colombo and soon after Lakmal was inducted into the academy, the coaches worked on developing his stamina.”

10. Stint at Tamil Union Domestic side:

He has played for the Tamil Union domestic side since 2007. He has played 74 first-class matches, picking up 188 wickets.