Mahela Udawatte

Mahela Lakmal Udawatte known as Mahela Udawatte (Sinhala: මහේල උඩවත්ත; born 19 July 1986) is a professional Sri Lankan International cricketer. He played as opening batsman in debut series in 2008, which shifted to become a middle order batsman for his comeback in 2017. He played his first Test Match against West Indies in 2018 after 10 years from his limited overs debut.

Mahela Udawatte
Personal information
Full name
Mahela Lakmal Udawtte
Born (1986-07-19) 19 July 1986
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm off-spin
RoleMiddle-order Batsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 147)14 June 2018 v West Indies
Last Test23 June 2018 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 135)10 April 2008 v West Indies
Last ODI28 November 2008 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.59
T20I debut (cap 24)10 October 2008 v Zimbabwe
Last T20I29 October 2017 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005–Chilaw Marians Cricket Club
2007–Wayamba
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I
Matches 2 9 8
Runs scored 23 257 96
Batting average 5.75 28.55 12.00
100s/50s 0/0 0/2 0/0
Top score 19 73 25
Catches/stumpings 2/– 0/– 0/–
Source: Cricinfo, 23 June 2018

Domestic career

Straight after his left from school, he joined Chilaw Marians SC and Promoted to open the batting. He has also played for Kings of Khulna in Bangladesh's NCL T20 Bangladesh.

He is usually opens the batting and made his first class debut in 2004–05 in Sri Lanka and he was also named in the thirty-man provincial squad for the 2007 World Cup but failed to make it to the final fifteen.

His average in first class cricket may not be that great, but it his hard hitting capabilities that have left many an expert rooting for him. Udawatte plays first class cricket for the Chilaw Marians Cricket Club. He had also scored three centuries in only five matches in domestic competitions.

In March 2018, he was named in Kandy's squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament.[1][2] The following month, he was also named in Kandy's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[3] He was the leading run-scorer for Kandy in the tournament, with 187 runs in three matches.[4]

In August 2018, he was named in Colombo's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League.[5] In March 2019, he was named in Galle's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[6] In August 2021, he was named in the SLC Greens team for the 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League tournament.[7]

International career

He was chosen for the Sri Lanka ODI squad for their tour of West Indies in April 2008 and played in all three ODIs. With only two fifties in 9 ODIs as an opener, Udawatte was dropped from the squad in late 2009. After 9 years, he was recalled into the T20I squad for the 3-match series against Pakistan due to unavailability of many permanent players avoid to travel Pakistan for the third T20I at Lahore.[8] However, he scored poorly in all three matches.

In May 2018, he was named in Sri Lanka's Test squad for their series against the West Indies.[9] He made his Test debut for Sri Lanka against the West Indies on 14 June 2018. He became the oldest Sri Lankan to debut opening in Test cricket at the age of 31. However, he got out for nought in the first innings.[10]

References
  1. "Cricket: Mixed opinions on Provincial tournament". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 26 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  2. "All you need to know about the SL Super Provincial Tournament". Daily Sports. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  3. "SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  4. "2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament: Kandy Batting and Bowling Averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  5. "SLC T20 League 2018 squads finalized". The Papare. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. "Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  7. "Sri Lanka Cricket announce Invitational T20 squads and schedule". The Papare. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  8. "Mahela Udawatte returns for Sri Lanka after eight years". cricketage. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  9. "Udawatte, Rajitha, Vandersay picked for West Indies Tests". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  10. "2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of West Indies at Gros Islet, Jun 14-18 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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