Dushmantha Chameera, the Sri Lankan right-arm fast bowler, is today the spearhead of the Sri-Lankan pace attack.
After Malinga, this Sri Lankan pacer, along with Lahiru Kumara has built a formidable pair in white-ball cricket.
Here, we have listed down 20 interesting facts about Dushmantha Chameera.
1) On 11 January 1992, Dushmantha Chameera was born at Ragama in Sri Lanka.
2) At the early age of 11 years, he started playing professional cricket and learned the art of fast bowling from playing club tournaments
3) He completed his initial schooling from Harischandra Vidyalaya
After completing his O-level exams, he played school cricket for Maris Stella College, the same school which produced former Sri Lankan pacer Graeme Labrooy.
4) Chameera, since his childhood, wanted to be a fast bowler
He idolized Australian pacer Brett Lee and always wanted to bowl fast like Brett
5) In 2012, he made his mark playing for Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) and was seen as a bright prospect for the future
He used to hit 140 kph consistently with his skiddy action and was soon tagged the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka.
6) Dushmantha was always quick but didn’t have the movement in the air and also lacked the variations needed to be successful in international cricket
He worked with Champaka Ramanayake and Anusha Samaranayake, the two most well-known fast bowling coaches in Sri Lanka, and learned to use the yorker and other variations from them
7) In the domestic season of 2014, he picked 32 first-class wickets for NCC at an impressive average of 21.18.
After that, he got picked for the Sri Lanka Development and the Sri Lanka-A squad
8) In late 2014, he got picked for the Test series in New Zealand
On 29 January 2015, in the last match of the ODI series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, Dushmantha made his international debut for Sri Lanka in Wellington
He ended with figures of 2/60 in 8 overs and picked the prized wicket of Ross Taylor with a delivery that clocked at 146 kph.
9) In the 2015 World Cup, he made his World Cup debut against Scotland, ended with figures of 3-51, and helped Sri Lanka win
10) In June 2015, he made his Test debut against Pakistan in Colombo and bowled Zulfiqar Babar to claim his first test wicket
He ended with the figures of 4/76 in the two innings of that test match
11) On 9 November 2015, Chameera made his T20I debut for Sri Lanka against the West Indies at Pallekele
He picked the crucial wicket of Andre Fletcher and ended with figures of 1-30 from the match
12) Dushmantha Chameera is nicknamed Chamee by teammates in the dressing room.
13) In December 2015, Chameera picked his first five-wicket haul against New Zealand at Hamilton.
He picked up 5/47 in the first innings, 4/68 in the 2nd innings, and ended with match figures of 9/115, which was the second-best bowling figure for a Sri Lankan pacer.
14) In May 2018, Dushmantha was one of 33 cricketers that get awarded a national contract by Sri Lanka Cricket
15) Rajasthan Royals bought him for the 2018 IPL, and in 2020 played for Colombo Kings in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League
16) In August 2021, Chameera was in the RCB squad for the second phase of the 2021 IPL in the UAE
17) In May 2021, Dusmantha Chameera took his first five-wicket haul against Bangladesh in an ODI match in Dhaka
18) In November 2021, he played for the Colombo Stars in the 2021 Lanka Premier League.
19) In January 2022, he was included in ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year 2021
20) Chameera was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants for INR 2 crores in the 2022 IPL auction