Warushavithana Upul Tharanga
(born 2 February 1985 in Balapitiya
, commonly known as Upul Tharanga)
is a Sri
Lankan
cricketer. He is a
left-handed opening batsman and wicketkeeper.
Tharanga's Sri Lankan call-up in July 2005 made for a mixed 2005,
after his family home was washed away by the Asian tsunami. His
equipment, which was also washed away, was replaced by
Kumar Sangakkara.
Having played for
Nondescripts since the age of 15,
he played for Sri Lanka's under-15, under-17 and under-19 squads.
He had a successful under-19 World Cup in 2004 with successful
innings of 117 and 61 in successive games.
He was sent by the Sri
Lankan cricketing board to play league cricket for Loughton
Cricket Club
in Essex.
Tharanga graduated to the "A" team and in July was selected for the
full squad.
On the 2006 tour of England he really began to develop,
particularly in the one-day game, scoring over 300 runs in Sri
Lanka's 5-0 whitewash of the hosts. In addition, Tharanga is also
well-known for taking part in a record-breaking first wicket
partnership with
Sanath Jayasuriya
in the final match of this series. He finished off with 109 off 102
balls, and played a pivotal role in completing the whitewash
against England.
Tharanga lost his form in the 2007 World Cup scoring only one half
century (against New Zealand) he then continued his poor run of
form in the home series against England in 2007 where he failed to
contribute and often fell before the 10th over often resulting in a
middle-order collapse. Subsequently he lost his ODI place to
Malinda Warnapura and his test
place to
Michael Vandort but he
remains within the squad.
He has also come in for special praise from
Jayasuriya, one of the greats of cricket, saying
that he could be the next captain of the Sri Lankan cricket
team.
One Day International Centuries
The following table illustrates a summary of ODI centuries scored
by Upul Tharanga
- In the column Runs, * indicates being
not out
- The column title Match refers to the
Match Number of the player's career
One Day International Centuries of Upul
Tharanga
|
|
Runs |
Match |
Against |
City/Country |
Venue |
Year |
| [1] |
105 |
5 |
Bangladesh |
Colombo , Sri Lanka |
R Premadasa Stadium |
2005 |
| [2] |
103 |
12 |
New Zealand |
Christchurch , New Zealand |
Jade Stadium |
2006 |
| [3] |
120 |
23 |
England |
London, England |
Lord's |
2006 |
| [4] |
109 |
27 |
England |
Leeds ,
England |
Headingley |
2006 |
| [5] |
105 |
31 |
Bangladesh |
Mohali, Chandigarh , India |
Punjab C.A. Stadium |
2006 |
| [6] |
110 |
32 |
Zimbabwe |
Motera, Ahmedabad , India |
Sardar Patel Stadium |
2006 |
|