Dhananjaya Maduranga de Silva or commonly Dhananjaya de Silva (born 6 September 1991) is a Sri Lankan professional cricketer who plays in international matches for Sri Lanka and in domestic cricket for the Tamil Union. In November 2017 he was named Test Batsman of the Year for the 2016–17 season at Sri Lanka Cricket's annual awards.

Dhananjaya de Silva (born September 6, 1991) plays as an all-rounder for Sri Lanka in all 3 formats. In May 2018, his father, a politician, was murdered by a gunman outside their home. After being picked for a tour of the Windies, Dhananjaya postponed his trip due to the tragedy and only started playing from the second game.

Personal Life

Dhananjaya de Silva was born on September 6, 1991 in Hambantota, the second son of a family of three brothers. de Silva began his cricket career at Deberawewa National School in Tissamaharama, Hambanthota. He then briefly attended Mahanama College Colombo before transferring to Richmond College, Galle. He played his senior school cricket at Richmond College, Galle and was captain of the Richmond First XI cricket team in the 2010/2011 season.

De Silva's father Ranjan de Silva was a politician. On May 25, 2018, his father was murdered by an unknown gunman in front of their home in Ratmalana. With the sudden death of his father, de Silva withdrew from the Sri Lanka squad for the West Indies tour. However, he participated in the tour from the second game.

Domestic Career

In March 2018, de Silva was named vice-captain of the Colombo squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament. The following month, he was also named to Colombo's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.

In August 2018, de Silva was included in Galle's squad for the 2018 SLC T20 League. In March 2019, he was named to Galle's roster for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. After completing the competition, he was named Player of the Tournament.

In October 2020, he was drafted by the Jaffna Stallions for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League. In August 2021, he was named the SLC Blues team captain for the 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League tournament.

International Career

In July 2015, de Silva was named in Sri Lanka's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Pakistan. He made his T20I debut on 30 July 2015. He scored 31 runs in his debut game which Sri Lanka lost.

De Silva made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Ireland on 16 June 2016, earning the 169th Sri Lankan ODI international cap.

In July 2016, de Silva was named in Sri Lanka's Test squad for their series against Australia. He made his Test debut for Sri Lanka against Australia on 26 July 2016. He became the first player for Sri Lanka to lead in a friendly with a six and fifth overall. He took his first Test wicket by dismissing Peter Nevill in the second innings of the match.

de Silva's first Century of Tests came during the third Test of the same Australian series. Sri Lanka was on 26.5. in trouble when de Silva joined Dinesh Chandimal. The two shared a hundred-year partnership and de Silva scored the first ton of his career. De Silva was the highest run scorer in the series with 325 runs, including a century and a fifty, at a 65.00 average. Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia for the first time.

After Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan retired from ODIs, de Silva was promoted to his opening position. He scored 76 runs after opening batting for the first time. This score is the highest score by a Sri Lankan who opens batting for the first time, surpassing Saman Jayantha's score of 74 in 2004. His poor performances against South Africa dropped him from the opening slot but was played as a middle-order batsman.

De Silva continued his good performance during the two tests against Zimbabwe. In the first game he scored a fifty. Zimbabwe made 411 during the pursuit with Sri Lanka winning the match. During the second Test, de Silva made a 142-run partnership with Upul Tharanga. Tharanga was caught on the slip and de Silva continued his innings by scoring his second Test century in his fifth Test match of his career.

Due to poor performances in South Africa, de Silva was dropped from all squads. He was not originally included in Sri Lanka's ODI squad for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. However, Kusal Perera was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury and de Silva was called up to the squad. But he failed to show his worthiness in the squad and was dropped from the Sri Lanka squad after the Champions Trophy.

De Silva was recalled to the ODI series against India. de Silva was recalled to the Test squad for the third Test against India in 2017. He was dismissed for a single run in the first innings. However, in the second innings, de Silva scored his third Test century. Shortly thereafter, de Silva left the field with a hamstring injury. The game was drawn. His unbeaten 119 was the highest fourth-inning score by a visiting batsman in India.

De Silva has always been part of the T20I squad since making his debut against Pakistan in 2015. However, after strong performances on Tests and ODIs, Dhananjaya was included in the one-off T20I against South Africa on 14 August 2018. In the game he put on an all-around performance with South Africa eliminated for 99 runs which was their lowest score in T20Is. During the chase, he formed a 53-run partnership with Dinesh Chandimal and led the team to victory. De Silva was named man of the match for his all-around performances.

2019 - Present

In April 2019, de Silva was called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. During the game against England, he took three wickets in nine deliveries to deliver a 20-run win over England. This was Sri Lanka's fourth consecutive win against England at World Cups.

On December 15, 2019, during the first Test against Pakistan, de Silva scored his sixth Test century. With his unbeaten century, Sri Lanka batted 308 in the first innings in a rain-affected match, with the match ending in a tie.

On 1 March 2020, in the third ODI against the West Indies, de Silva injured his wrist during the game. He was later eliminated from the T20I series against the West Indies. In December 2020, he toured South Africa for a two-match series. In the Boxing Day Test match, he scored his seventh 50 and strengthened the first innings along with Dinesh Chandimal. However, he retired injured when he showed severe discomfort at the age of 79, collapsing to the ground and having to be helped off the field to the dressing room. After a post-game MRI scan, he confirmed a tear of around 20% or 30% and took two weeks to recover. He was immediately dismissed from the rest of the series.

During the first Test match against Bangladesh in May 2021, de Silva scored his seventh Test century. He battled with Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne all of day four without losing a wicket and setting up a record-breaking partnership. Their partnership is a record for every wicket in a Kandy Test match. In September 2021, de Silva was called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the 2021 ICC T20 Men's World Championship.

Promising Future

In Sri Lanka's rebuilding phase, with most of the senior leaders out, new signing Dhananjaya De Silva underscored a batting flair that will linger for the future of Sri Lankan cricket.

So far he had played 11 Tests, 17 ODIs and 7 T20Is, scoring 846, 335 and 167 runs respectively and 11 international wickets in total.

Experts believe if this lanky right-handed batsman lives up to his skills, he will soon join former veteran Sri Lankans Atapattu and Dilshan.

Career Stats

Test Career Stats

As of July 2020, Dhananjaya has contested 31 Tests and accumulated 1,863 runs averaging 35.15 with 6 hundreds and 6 fifties. His highest Test score is 173. As an off-break bowler, he has claimed 21 scalps in Tests with an average of 51.95 and a batting average of 93.1.

ODI Career Statistics

Dhananjaya has appeared in 45 ODIs and hit 895 runs with a 25.57 average and a 77.55 batting average with 5 fifties. His highest ODI score is 84. He has sacked 22 wickets in ODIs with an average of 42.18, an economy rate of 5.17 and a strike rate of 48.9.

T20I Career Statistics

Dhananjaya has also featured in 16 T20Is and cracked 331 runs with a 22.06 average and a 109.96 batting average with 2 fifties. His highest T20I score is 62. He has claimed 5 wickets in T20Is with an average of 25.60, an economy rate of 7.11 and a strike rate of 21.6.