Aththachchi Nuwan Pradeep Roshan Fernando (Sinhala: born October 19, 1986), commonly known as Nuwan Pradeep, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for all three formats of the game.

Despite being a national cricketer, he had never actually played the game until he was 20, and especially never played with a leather ball until he was 20. He became famous after winning a bowling speed competition in 2007 and he was sent to the Sri Lankan Cricket Academy and also received a national test call less than 3 years later. It is considered to be the most unconventional find in Sri Lankan cricket.

Domestic career

In 2011, before his international debut, he was surprisingly selected by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2011 Indian Premier League. However, he did not play in any match. In March 2019, he was named to Kandy's roster for the Super Provincial One Day Tournament 2019.

In October 2020 he was drafted by the Kandy Tuskers for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League. In August 2021 he was appointed to the SLC Grays team for the SLC Invitational T20 League tournament 2021.

International career

In 2010 Pradeep was named to the Sri Lankan squad for the second Test against India. He was selected to the preliminary squad of Sri Lanka for the test tour to England in 2011 and he won 4/29 in the warm-up match against the England Lions as Sri Lanka won it by 38 runs. However, he was disqualified after an injury prior to the test series.

He was also initially selected to the Sri Lankan squad for the 2011 test tour of South Africa but was disqualified due to a hamstring tear. In 2011 he was re-elected to the national Test squad at the tournament against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

He made his Test debut against Pakistan in October 2011 at the age of 24 but did not take a wicket on the debut. Due to most of the injuries, he became an in-and-out pace bowler for Sri Lanka. Even so, he is one of the fastest bowlers ever found in the current Sri Lankan squad. He took his first international wicket by sacking Mohammad Ayub of Pakistan on June 25, 2012, at the Galle International Stadium.

After the tour through New Zealand in the 2014/15 season, Pradeep demonstrated his bowling skills, which secured him a permanent place in the Test squad. He became Dhammika Prasad's bowling partner in test cricket.

In April 2019, he was named to Sri Lanka's squad for the 2019 World Cricket Championship. During the second game of the World Cup, Pradeep delivered a match-winning bowling spell against Afghanistan to win four wickets for 31 runs. Sri Lanka won the match by 34 runs, with Pradeep named Man of the Game.

However, Pradeep was banned from Sri Lanka's last two games of the tournament after contracting chickenpox. He was replaced by Kasun Rajitha. In the third ODI against the West Indies on March 1, 2020, Pradeep bowled only 4.3 overs in Pallkelle and sustained a thigh injury on three deliveries in his second period. He didn't come back to the field after the injury. As a result, he's out for at least six weeks, missing the T20I series against West Indies and Tests against England.

In September 2021, Pradeep was named to Sri Lanka's squad for the men's ICC T20 World Cup 2021.