Kande Arachchige Isuru Udana Tillakaratna (Sinhala: ඉසුරු උදාන;[1] born 17 February 1988) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who represented Sri Lanka internationally in limited over formats. He currently plays domestic cricket for Tamil Union and Wayamba. Primarily a left arm fast bowler, Udana evolved as an all-rounder in late 2018. On 31 July 2021, Udana announced his retirement from international cricket.[2]

Isuru Udana
Personal information
Full name
Kande Arachchige Isuru Udana Tillakaratna
Born (1988-02-17) 17 February 1988 (age 36)
Balangoda, Sri Lanka
NicknameIzy
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeft-arm medium
RoleAll-rounder
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 152)24 July 2012 v India
Last ODI18 July 2021 v India
T20I debut (cap 29)8 June 2009 v Australia
Last T20I28 July 2021 v India
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2008Tamil Union
2009Wayamba
2013Duronto Rajshahi
2018Paktia Super Kings
2019Rajshahi Kings
2020Royal Challengers Bangalore
2020Colombo Kings
2021Galle Gladiators
2022Minister Dhaka
2022Kandy Falcons
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 21 35 97 144
Runs scored 237 256 2,687 1,707
Batting average 16.92 18.28 24.65 20.81
100s/50s 0/1 0/1 2/13 0/5
Top score 78 84* 109* 78
Balls bowled 909 631 10,408 5,592
Wickets 18 27 202 173
Bowling average 52.77 33.88 30.80 28.57
5 wickets in innings 0 0 3 1
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 3/82 3/11 7/58 5/59
Catches/stumpings 6/– 4/– 61/– 63/1
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 12 March 2023
Medal record
Representing  Sri Lanka
Men's Cricket
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Team

Domestic and franchise career

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Udana made his first-class and List A cricket debuts whilst playing for the Sri Lanka A team during their tour to South Africa in August and September 2008. He subsequently went on to play for Tamil Union in both forms during the 2008–09 season. He was then selected by Wayamba to play in both the first-class and Twenty20 portions of the Sri Lankan Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament. In the Twenty20 final against Basnahira South he was named Man of the Match after taking 4–31, including 4 of the top 5 batsman.[3] He was also named player of the tournament.[4]

In the Sri Lanka Premier League which was held in August 2012, he managed to showcase his all-round talent by taking regular wickets for his team Wayamba United, and chipping in with the bat at times. His key performance came against Uva Next in the tournament semi final when he scored 42 which almost helped Wayamba to pull off an impossible chase from 27/7 to 151–8.[5] In that same semi final clash he along with Azhar Mahmood set the highest ever 8th wicket partnership in any forms of T20s. (120)[6][7]

On 22 September 2010, while playing for Wayamba in the 2010 Champions League T20, Udana completed a rare feat by taking a hat-trick of two (legal) deliveries. Mathew Sinclair, the second wicket of the hat-trick was out stumped off a wide-ball.[8][9] Isuru Udana also became the first bowler to take a hattrick in Champions League T20 history.

In April 2018, he was named in Kandy's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[10] He was the leading wicket-taker for Kandy in the tournament, with ten dismissals in six matches.[11]

On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.[12][13]

In August 2018, he was named in Dambulla's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League.[14] In October 2018, he was the leading wicket-taker in the 2018–19 Afghanistan Premier League, with seventeen dismissals in eight matches.[15] The following month, he was named in the squad for the Rajshahi Kings team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.[16]

In March 2019, he was named in Dambulla's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[17] In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament.[18] In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Paarl Rocks team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.[19]

In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 50 lakh (US$60,000) ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.[20] In October 2020, he was drafted by the Colombo Kings for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.[21]

Ahead of the 2021 Indian Premier League, he was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore.[22] He was picked by Trinbago Knight Riders ahead of the 2021 Caribbean Premier League.[23] He took his first wicket haul in T20 cricket during a league match against Barbados Royals in 2021 CPL season and also registered his career best T20 bowling figures of 5/21.[24][25]

In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.[26] In July 2022, he was signed by the Kandy Falcons for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League.[27]

International career

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Udana was selected in the Sri Lanka squad for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.[28] He made his Twenty20 international debut on 8 June 2009 against Australia during the T20 World Cup tournament.[29] He played in 5 of Sri Lanka's 7 games in the tournament, including their loss in the final to Pakistan.[30]

Udana failed to continue his domestic success at the international level, and subsequently was dropped from the side after the home series against Pakistan in 2009. He made a comeback into the Sri Lankan squad in 2012 when the selection panel headed by Ashantha de Mel named him for the T20s against Pakistan at home. He was then selected for the ODIs against India which followed the Pakistan series and made his ODI debut on 24 July 2012 against India.[31] However, he again failed to deliver in a bilateral series. His only significant contribution in that series was a direct hit to run out Gautam Gambhir at a key moment in one of the games.

After a long scarce in international arena, Udana got a chance to play in Twenty20 International series against New Zealand in 2016. The comeback was very good at first few balls in the second T20I, where easy catch of Martin Guptill was dropped by Thisara Perera on Udana's bowling. Since then, Udana was brutally hit by New Zealanders and Udana gave 34 runs in his 3 overs, where New Zealand won the match by 9 wickets only in the 10th over.

In May 2018, he was one of 33 cricketers to be awarded a national contract by Sri Lanka Cricket ahead of the 2018–19 season.[32][33]

In March 2019, during the fourth ODI against South Africa, Udana and Kasun Rajitha made the highest partnership for the tenth wicket for Sri Lanka in an ODI match, with 58 runs.[34] On 22 March, during a T20I match against South Africa national cricket team, he broke the world record for highest individual score (84) batting at number eight in a T20I match.[35]

In April 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[36][37] During the second T20I against India on 7 January 2020, Udana injured with a back injury attempting to stop the ball at short third man. He was immediately taken off the field and did not return to bowl. He was ruled out from the series after the injury.[38]

On 31 July 2021, Udana announced retirement from International cricket.[39][40]

References

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  1. ^ @OfficialSLC (20 July 2021). "ඉසුරු උදාන වෙනුවට කසුන් රජිත – ශ්‍රී..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Sri Lanka paceman Isuru Udana announces international retirement". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  3. ^ Basnahira South v Wayamba, ESPNcricinfo
  4. ^ Udana stars in Wayamba's title win, ESPNcricinfo
  5. ^ "Oram stars as Uva upset Wayamba". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  6. ^ "1st Semi Final: Wayamba United v Uva Next at Colombo (RPS), Aug 28, 2012. Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Records. Twenty20 matches. Partnership records. Highest partnerships by wicket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  8. ^ Champions League 19th Match, 2010, ESPNcricinfo
  9. ^ "Wayamba thrash Central Districts for consolation win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  10. ^ "SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  11. ^ "2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament: Kandy Batting and Bowling Averages". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Global T20 Canada: Complete Squads". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Global T20 Canada League – Full Squads announced". CricTracker. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  14. ^ "SLC T20 League 2018 squads finalized". The Papare. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Afghanistan Premier League, 2018/19 - Most Wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Full players list of the teams following Players Draft of BPL T20 2018-19". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Global T20 draft streamed live". Canada Cricket Online. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  19. ^ "MSL 2.0 announces its T20 squads". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  20. ^ "IPL auction analysis: Do the eight teams have their best XIs in place?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi among big names taken at LPL draft". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  22. ^ "IPL 2021 Player retentions list". www.iplt20.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Tridents pick Morris in CPL 2021 draft, Hasaranga goes to Patriots". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  24. ^ "Kieron Pollard cuts loose to seal chase after Isuru Udana's five-wicket haul". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Twitter Reactions: Isuru Udana, Kieron Pollard hand TKR maiden win of CPL 2021". CricTracker. 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews miss out on LPL drafts". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  27. ^ "LPL 2022 draft: Kandy Falcons sign Hasaranga; Rajapaksa to turn out for Dambulla Giants". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  28. ^ Isuru Udana in Sri Lanka's World Twenty20 squad, ESPNcricinfo
  29. ^ "Full Scorecard of Australia vs Sri Lanka 8th Match, Group C 2009 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  30. ^ Pakistan v Sri Lanka, ESPNcricinfo
  31. ^ "Full Scorecard of India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI 2012 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Sri Lanka assign 33 national contracts with pay hike". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  33. ^ "Sri Lankan players to receive pay hike". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  34. ^ "Tailender Isuru Udana clubs half-century to help Sri Lanka reach 189 all out at St George's". Times Live. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  35. ^ "South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 2019: 2nd T20I – Statistical Highlights". CricTracker. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  36. ^ "Thirimanne, Siriwardana, Vandersay picked in World Cup squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  37. ^ "Jeevan Mendis, Siriwardana, Vandersay make comebacks in Sri Lanka World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  38. ^ "Isuru Udana ruled out of third T20I against India". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  39. ^ "Isuru Udana announces retirement from International cricket". SportsTiger. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  40. ^ "श्रीलंकाई ऑलराउंडर Isuru Udana ने इंटरनेशनल क्रिकेट से लिया संन्यास, भारत के खिलाफ थे सीरीज का हिस्सा". Cricketnmore. 31 July 2021.
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