Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. A handy right-handed middle order batter who sometimes plays as the wicket-keeper, Chandimal lead Sri Lanka in the group stages of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in which Sri Lanka ended up as the champions.
On 26 September 2019, he joined the Sri Lankan Army as a volunteer commissioned officer and was eligible to play for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club. In August 2020, while playing for the Sri Lanka Army Sports Club, Chandimal made the highest score in domestic first-class cricket in Sri Lanka, with an unbeaten 354 runs against Saracens CC.
Chandimal started his cricketing career as a teenager at his first school Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda. Later he moved to Ananda College, Colombo captaining the under-17 team. In 2008, he was appointed captain of the school’s first eleven, which he led in 13 outright wins in a season, re-writing history in Sri Lankan school cricket. He was the first schoolboy cricketer to exceed 1,000 runs with an aggregate of 1,580, and won the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award in 2009. After leaving school, he joined the Nondescripts Cricket Club.
Chandimal has the record for the most dismissals as wicketkeeper for Sri Lanka in Youth ODI history with 51 dismissals and also the only Sri Lankan wicketkeeper to involve in 50+ dismissals in Youth ODI history.
In First class career, he scored 64, 04, and 109 in his first three innings for Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI. He is an aggressive batsman who scored two centuries for his country’s U-19s, which he vice-captained, and played for the Sri Lanka Cricket XI and Schools Invitation XI for List A and Twenty20 cricket. During the 2012 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, he was bought for $50,000 by the Rajasthan Royals. Later, he signed a contract with Chittagong Vikings to play in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League for the Chittagong Vikings.
In March 2018, he was named as the captain of the Colombo squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament. The following month, he was also named as Colombo’s captain for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. In August 2018, he was named as Colombo’s captain for the 2018 SLC T20 League.
On 19 February 2019, Chandimal scored a century in the 2018–19 SLC Twenty20 Tournament, a day after he was dropped from Sri Lanka’s One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against South Africa.
In March 2019, he was named as Colombo’s captain for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. In August 2020, in the final round of matches in the 2019–20 Premier League Tournament, Chandimal scored 354 not out, batting for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club. It was the highest first-class score in a domestic match in Sri Lanka, beating the previous record of 351 runs scored by Kithuruwan Vithanage.
In October 2020, he was drafted by the Colombo Kings for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League. In August 2021, he was named as the captain of the SLC Reds team for the 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League tournament. In July 2022, he was signed by the Colombo Stars for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League.
International career
He made his international debut during the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies, playing in Sri Lanka’s group games against New Zealand and Zimbabwe in the initial group stage and then playing against Australia in the “Super Eight” final series.
After also playing against New Zealand in a Twenty20 International match in Florida, Chandimal was selected for an ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe, where the two sides also played India. He made his debut against Zimbabwe, scoring an unbeaten 10 as his side cruised to a nine-wicket win and then registered his maiden international century by scoring 111 runs off 118 balls against India, an innings that helped his side both win the match (by six wickets) and knock India out of the tournament. He also became the youngest Sri Lankan to score an ODI century.
Chandimal made his Test debut for Sri Lanka in December 2011, in the second Test of the series against South Africa in Durban. He made half-centuries (58 and 54) in each of Sri Lanka’s innings becoming the first Sri Lankan batsman to score half centuries in both innings on Test debut. This incidentally led Sri Lanka to their first Test win in South Africa.
Chandimal was a key member of 2012 ICC World Twenty20 runner-up team and 2014 ICC World Twenty20 winning team. He led Sri Lanka in first group stage of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, until was suspended for slow over rate and subsequently lost the place in the team for the remainder of the tournament. Chandimal holds the joint record for taking the most catches in a single T20I as a fielder (4) along with Darren Sammy, Ajinkya Rahane, Peter Borren, Corey Anderson and Babar Hayat. He too has taken the most catches for Sri Lanka in a single T20I.
During 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, against Australia in Sydney, Chandimal scored 50 off 22 balls, this was the fastest fifty by a Sri Lankan batsman in Cricket world cup history, before Angelo Mathews scored a 20-ball fifty, where Sri Lanka had a massive 377 target to chase. During the innings, he was retired hurt, and eventually Sri Lanka lost the match by 64 runs.
Chandimal was included to the test series with India as the permanent wicket-keeper and showed an excellent talent in the test level as well. In the first innings, he scored 59 runs but eventually Sri Lanka were all out for 183. In the second innings after India’s huge 375 runs, Sri Lanka were all out for 367 runs courtesy of Chandimal’s brilliant knock of unbeaten 162 runs. He was the star for the Sri Lankan innings with 16 fours and 4 sixes. Sri Lanka had a 175 lead and India were just ended with 112 runs and Sri Lanka won the match by 63 runs. Due to Chandimal’s batting performance in the right time, he was adjudged as man of the match.
