Pulina Tharanga (born 23 January 1993) is a Sri Lankan

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er.

Biography

He became a victim of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami as he lost both his parents during the disaster at the age of 11. He was later brought up in Foundation of Goodness, a charity organisation which is located at Seenigama near

Hikkaduwa Hikkaduwa is a small town on the south coast of Sri Lanka located in the Southern Province, about north-west of Galle and south of Colombo. Etymology The name Hikkaduwa is thought to have been derived from the two words ''Sip Kaduwa'', with ...

. He also received a scholarship program from

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

, after joining the Foundation of Goodness.

Career

He made his first-class debut for

Singha Sports Club Singha Sports Club is a former first-class cricket team in Sri Lanka. The team played first-class cricket in most seasons from 1989–90 to 2010–11. It played 155 matches, for 22 wins, 70 losses and 63 draws. It continues to compete in sub-first ...

in the 2010–11 Premier Trophy on 1 April 2011. He was named in Sri Lankan U-19 squad for the

2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was a one-day cricket competition for sixteen international U-19 cricketing teams which was held in August 2012. This was the ninth time that the tournament was held since its inception back in 1988. The ...

. In October 2020, he was drafted by the Dambulla Viiking for the inaugural edition of the

Lanka Premier League The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; , ) is a professional cricket league in Sri Lanka in Twenty20 format contested every year by teams representing Sri Lankan cities from 2020. The league was founded by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in 201 ...

. In August 2021, he was named in the SLC Greys team for the

2021 SLC Invitational T20 League The 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League was a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place in Sri Lanka from 12 to 24 August 2021. All the matches were played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Kandy, and were used as preparation fo ...

tournament. Following his strong performance in the tournament, he was named in Sri Lanka's One Day International (ODI) and

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) squads for their series against South Africa. The following month, Tharanga was named as one of four reserve players in Sri Lanka's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventu ...

. In November 2021, he was selected to play for the

Galle Gladiators Galle Gladiators are a Sri Lankan franchise professional Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Lanka Premier League, Sri Lanka and representing the city of Galle, Southern Province. Nadeem Omar, who owns the Quetta Gladiators in Paki ...

following the players' draft for the

2021 Lanka Premier League The 2021 Lanka Premier League also known as Wolf777 News LPL T20, for sponsorship reasons, was the second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in Sri Lanka. It took place from 5 to 23 December 2021. Th ...

. In January 2022, he was named as one of six reserve players in Sri Lanka's One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against Zimbabwe. In June 2022, he was named in the Sri Lanka A squad for their matches against Australia A during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka. In July 2022, he was signed by the

for the third edition of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tharanga, Pulina 1993 births Living people Sri Lankan cricketers Singha Sports Club cricketers Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club cricketers Sportspeople from Galle