A poised, attacking left-handed opener groomed in part at Sinhalese Sports Club, Danushka Gunathilaka was plucked from the domestic system largely on potential, and drafted into Sri Lanka's A team for the tour of New Zealand in mid-2015. He impressed on that trip, hitting two smart fifties from four innings, to finish as the team's second-highest run-scorer.

Those performances earned him a national call-up for the home series against West Indies in November. Gunathilaka then earned a second trip to New Zealand - with the senior team this time - and despite modest returns from his first three ODIs, he struck a rapid 65 in Nelson to win a Man-of-the-Match award.

Gunathilaka was not originally part of Sri Lanka's squad for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England, but came into it ahead of their second match thanks to an injury to Chamara Kapugedara. He made a stunning entrance, scoring 76 off 72 balls to help haul down a target of 322.

That innings was followed by a run of three fifties and a maiden hundred in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, cue a call-up to the Test side. The Test debut was a disappointment, Gunathilaka scoring 16 and 2 before falling to loose strokes in both innings.

Strong square of the wicket, particularly on the off side, Gunathilaka, who admires Kumar Sangakkara, is also a part-time offspinner. He had played in Sri Lanka's Under-19 team in the 2009 Youth World Cup.
Andrew Fidel Fernando