Nuwan Kulasekara

Nuwan Kulasekara
නුවන් කුලසේකර

File:Nuwan Kulasekara.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Kulasekara Mudiyanselage Dinesh Nuwan Kulasekara
Born	(1982-07-22) 22 July 1982 Nittambuwa, Sri Lanka
Nickname	Kule
Height
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm fast-medium
Role	All Rounder
International information
National side	Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 100)	4 April 2005 v New Zealand
Last Test	16 March 2013 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 118)	18 November 2003 v England
Last ODI	5 January 2016 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.	92
T20I debut (cap 25)	11 October 2008 v Pakistan
Last T20I	7 January 2016 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002–2004	Galle Cricket Club
2004–2011	Colts Cricket Club
2011–2012	Chennai Super Kings
Career statistics
Competition Test ODIs FC List A Matches 21 173 87 262 Runs scored 391 1,273 1,684 1,821 Batting average 14.48 15.71 18.30 16.26 100s/50s 0/1 0/4 0/5 0/5 Top score 64 73 95 84 Balls bowled 3,567 7,810 12,461 11,817 Wickets 48 186 272 324 Bowling average 37.37 34.08 24.20 27.97 5 wickets in innings 0 1 9 2 10 wickets in match 0 n/a 1 n/a Best bowling 4/21 5/22 7/27 5/22 Catches/stumpings 8/– 43/– 35/– 65/–
Source: Cricinfo, 7 January 2016

Kulasekara Mudiyanselage Dinesh Nuwan Kulasekara, නුවන් කුලසේකර (born 22 July 1982 in Nittambuwa) is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He was educated at the Bandaranayake College, Gampaha. He is generally considered as a useful and effective medium pace bowler, who can swing the ball in first few overs, and also a perfect batman who can bat.

International debut

Kulasekera made his One Day International debut against England at Dambulla on 18 November 2003. He took 2–19 as England were bowled out for 88, and Sri Lanka took less than 14 overs to win by 10 wickets.

He made his Test cricket debut against New Zealand at Napier on 4 April 2005. He took only one wicket, and scored a duck, as the match was drawn.

IPL 2011

Kulasekara joined the Chennai Super Kings for a price of $100,000 to play for their team in the IPL 2011.

Bowling style

Kulasekara, who hustles in from a long run – up, has a lovely smooth action which helps him to hurl the ball at a lively pace, getting enough seam movement both ways to trouble the batsman . He skills lie in his ability to produce inswing and he is well known for his moderate nature to the batsmen, seldom being overly aggressive. He is regarded as one of the best swing bowlers currently playing cricket.

Break through

He came of age in the year 2008, when he took 47 wickets – which propelled him to the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers. The retirement of Chaminda Vaas and the inconsistency of Lasith Malinga proved to be a boon for Kulasekara as he leapfrogged them to emerge as the strike bowler of the Lankan side.

He scored his first Test fifty against England in the 1st Test at Lord's in May 2006, batting out much of the fifth day to save the match.

He was the No. 1 ranked ODI bowler for a few months in 2009 when he reached his highest ratings (727).

He is currently ranked in sixth place of bowling both in the world ODI and T20I formats due to his ability to swing the ball both in and out.

He picked up his first five wicket haul in 3rd ODI against Australia at Brisbane on 18 January 2013. He recorded his best bowling figures 5/22 in this match.

Batting

Kulasekara has often played some late order cameos in the shorter format of the game and employs a daring approach with the willow at the crease. A sturdy batsman, he has proved to be quite a tough man to dislodge in the Test format . In ODI's, he is occasionally sent in as a pinch hitter for Sri Lanka, notably with a score of 58* in the 2013 Champions Trophy to assist Kumar Sangakkara in beating England, in the second group game.

International performances

One Day International half-centuries

ODI half-centuries of Nuwan Kulasekara
	Runs	Balls	Against	City/country	Venue	Year
[1]	57*	56	New Zealand	Johannesburg, South Africa	New Wanderers Stadium	2009
[2]	73	43	Australia	Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Cricket Ground	2012
[3]	58*	38	England	London, England	Kennington Oval	2013
[4]	58	169	New Zealand	Christchurch, New Zealand	Hagley Oval	2015

International five-wicket hauls

ODI 5 wicket hauls

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	5/22	129	Australia	The Gabba	Brisbane	Australia	2013

International Awards

Test Cricket

Player of the Series awards

• In this table Ct., refers to the Catches.

S No	Series	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	Pakistan in Sri Lanka Test Series	2009	75 runs ; 17 wickets (3 Matches).	Sri Lanka Won the series 2–0

Man of the match awards

• In this table Ct., refers to the Catches.

S No	Series	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	2nd Test – Pakistan in Sri Lanka Test Series	2009	1st Innings – 11 ; 4/21. 2nd Innings - DNB ; 4/37.	Sri Lanka Won by 7 wickets

One-Day International Cricket

Player of the series awards

S No	Opponent	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia	2012	(5 Matches) 32 runs & 11 wickets.	Drawn as 2-2.

One Day Internationals - Man of the Match awards

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	India	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	29 August 2008	9–2–40–4; DNB. 1 ct.	Sri Lanka won by 112 wickets.
2	India	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka	13 January 2010	DNB; 10-0-48-4	Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets.
3	India	The Gabba, Brisbane	21 February 2012	DNB; 9-0-40-3. 2 ct.	Sri Lanka won by 51 runs.
4	Australia	The Gabba, Brisbane	18 January 2013	DNB; 10-2-22-5.	Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets.
5	Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	20 January 2013	DNB; 10-2-30-3. 1 ct.	No result.

Twenty20 International Cricket

Man of the series awards

#	Series	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	Sri Lanka in Bangladesh	2014	33 runs & 4 wickets (2 matches)	Sri Lanka won the series 2-0.

Twenty20 International Cricket – Man of the match awards

#	Series	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	New Zealand and Sri Lanka in USA	2010	DNB ; 3-1-4-3.	Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets.

External links

• Player profile: Nuwan Kulasekara from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Nuwan Kulasekara from CricketArchive