Kariyawasam Tirana Gamage Dhammika Prasad (; born 30 May 1983), or simply Dhammika Prasad, is a former Sri Lankan

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and coach. He was most recently bowling coach of the

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. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He has represented Sri Lanka in

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(ODI) and

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cricket and played domestic cricket for the

Sinhalese Sports Club The Sinhalese people, Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) was a first-class cricket club in Colombo, Sri Lanka till 2025 when they were relegated after enduring a horrendous 2024-25 version of the Major Club 3 day tournament in which they could only m ...

and Basnahira North. Prasad has been continuously dropped from the squads due to many injuries to ankle, back, hamstrings and has not played any cricket after West Indies tour in 2015. In February 2021, he announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 37.

Domestic career

Having begun playing cricket as a top-order batsman, Prasad became a fast bowler in his late teens and played in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup.

International career

In February 2006, he was called up to Sri Lanka's ODI and Test squads for the tour of Bangladesh after bowling at an average of less than 23 runs per wicket in the domestic first class cricket. He made his ODI debut on that tour, taking 2/29 in a 78-run win over

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Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Chaminda Vaas helping out Dhammika Prasad before a match

Prasad's international career was subsequently affected by a back injury. He had to wait until August 2008 to make his Test debut, taking five wickets over both innings of the third Test of India's tour of Sri Lanka, including those of

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, who Prasad said was his favourite player,

Rahul Dravid Rahul Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is a former cricket player, ex-captain and ex-coach of the Indian national cricket team. Known for his outstanding batting technique, Dravid scored 24,177 runs in international cricket and is widely re ...

, and

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. He played Test cricket sporadically over the following seasons. He took four wickets in the first Test of Sri Lanka's tour of Bangladesh in December 2008, but was dropped for the second Test. In 2009, he played in the second Test of Sri Lanka's home series against

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and the first Test of Sri Lanka's tour of India, in which he injured his hamstring. In 2010, Prasad played in one Test against India and another against the

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, failing to take any wickets on either occasion. In June 2011, Prasad was recalled to Sri Lanka's ODI squad for the tour of

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and

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. He played in two ODIs on the tour, taking two wickets against England and three against Scotland. He was named in the Test squad for Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in August and September, but did not play. He did, however, make his international

debut against Australia, before playing in two Tests of Sri Lanka's series against Pakistan in the

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. He was called into Sri Lanka's squad for their tour of South Africa in 2011–12 as a replacement for injured bowlers. He played in the third and deciding Test of the series, which Sri Lanka lost, taking two wickets for 156 runs, and also played in two ODIs. He was part of Sri Lanka test team which secured their historic first ever test series win against England in England in 2014. He played a crucial role during the series win picking up fifer at Headingley and ended up with career best figures of 5/50. Prasad was selected for the

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original squad, but was unable play due to injury. So he was called off from the World Cup squad. After World Cup, Prasad was brought back into the squad for Test series against Pakistan. In the second Test, he showed an impressive bowling performance where he took 3 for 43 in the first innings and then 4 for 92 in second innings. Due to Sri Lanka loss in the first Test at Galle, the second Test was a must win for the Sri Lankan team to level the series. Prasad provided the basis for the win and he earned the man of the match award for his impressive bowling performance in the second Test at P Sara Oval. During the India Test tour in 2015, Prasad showed immense talent with the new ball, where he used to take up the wickets in very first over in each Test match getting rid of Indian top order. He was the highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka in the series with 15 wickets. Due to some heated altercations with Indian pacer Ishant Sharma during the series, he was given a warning by ICC during the third test.

Personal life

Prasad attended De Mazenod College in Kandana, where he started playing cricket as a top order batsman. He is married to Nihari Kariyawasam. On 24 August 2016 Prasad announced on his

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account that he and his wife were parents to a baby boy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Dhammika Sri Lankan cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Basnahira North cricketers Sinhalese Sports Club cricketers 1983 births Living people Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Sri Lankan sportsmen Wayamba cricketers Basnahira cricketers Basnahira Cricket Dundee cricketers Ruhuna cricketers Sri Lanka Schools XI cricketers Colombo Stars cricketers Alumni of De Mazenod College Sportspeople from Ragama Cricketers from Western Province, Sri Lanka