Seekkuge Prasanna (; born 27 June 1985) is a former

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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, who played limited overs cricket. He is a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

in the

Sri Lankan Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; t ...

. Prasanna is known for aggressive batting at the late overs in ODIs, and a useful leg-spinner, probably the best found after former Sri Lanka leg-spinner Upul Chandana. Prasanna was a member of the Sri Lankan team that won the

2014 ICC World Twenty20 The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament, that took place in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April 2014. It was played in t ...

Domestic and T20 career

In March 2019, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. In October 2020, he was drafted by the Kandy Tuskers for the inaugural edition of the

Lanka Premier League The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; , ) is a professional franchise cricket league established in 2020 in Sri Lanka. Matches are played using the Twenty20 cricket format by five teams named after Sri Lankan cities. The league was int ...

. In April 2021, he was signed by Lahore Qalandars to play in the rescheduled matches in the 2021 Pakistan Super League. In August 2021, he was named in the SLC Reds team for the 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League tournament. In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Colombo Stars following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League. In July 2022, he was signed by the Colombo Stars for the third edition of the

International career

Prasanna made his

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

debut for

on 8 September 2011 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The ODI debut came against Australia at the same series in 2011. His

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

debut came against Pakistan at the UAE in 2013. Prasanna was not in the original squad in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, but he was called into the World Cup squad as a replacement for injured

Dimuth Karunaratne Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne (born 21 April 1988; ), popularly known as Dimuth Karunaratne, is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and former captain of Test cricket, Test and One Day International, ODI team of Sri Lanka national cr ...

. He played his first World Cup game against Scotland on 11 March 2015.

Power hitting

After dropped from the squad due to poor performances, Prasanna rejoined to the limited over Sri Lanka squad for game against Ireland in 2016. On 18 June 2016, in the second match against Ireland, Prasanna scored a devastating inning which earned him his highest ODI score. He got out for 95 runs just off 45 balls, just fell short for the fastest century for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka scored 377 runs in the match and finally won the match by 136 runs. His devastating form in Ireland continued in England. During the first ODI against England, Prasanna scored 25 ball 59 runs, including four huge sixes. However, the match ended with a tie. Prasanna scored 95 at strike rate 206.52 against Ireland in last ODI and 59 at 210.71 in this match. With that Prasanna became the third Sri Lanka player after

Sanath Jayasuriya Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (, ; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, captain, cricket administrator and coach. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest all rounders ever to play in ODI cricket. A left arm orthodox sp ...

and Thisara Perera to make 2 fifty-plus scores at a strike rate of 200-plus in ODIs. During the third T20I against South Africa in the decider, Prasanna helped Sri Lanka to win the match and seal the series 2–1 by hitting match-winning 16-ball 37 runs in the last overs with three sixes and three fours. This win gave Sri Lankans their first ever series win in any format against South Africa in South Africa as well. This is also Sri Lanka's highest chase in all T20Is.

Military career

He is currently serving in the

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

as a Warrant Officer I attached to the 2nd Regiment, Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps, promoted on 1 March 2017.

References

External links