Asanka Gurusinha
Deshabandu Asanka Pradeep Gurusinha is a Sri Lankan Australian former international cricketer who had an 11-year international career, playing 41 Tests and 147 One Day Internationals for Sri Lankan [cricket team|Sri Lanka]. He was a key member for 1996 Cricket World Cup winning team for Sri Lanka, who is a specialist batsman helped to win the 1996 Cricket [World Cup final|final] with 65 in a partnership of 125 with the final's Man of the Match, Aravinda de Silva.
He was educated at Isipathana College, Colombo & Nalanda College Colombo and had been residing in Melbourne. He was formerly the manager of the Sri Lanka national cricket team and a member of the selection committee. In December 2020, he was appointed as head coach of Nigeria national cricket team. In 2022 he was announced as the senior coach of Victorian Premier Cricket club Essendon.
Domestic career
As a school boy, once he scored a hundred for his team at Isipathana College along with fellow cricketer Hashan Tillakaratne. Gurusinha played domestic cricket for Nondescripts Cricket Club. He was able to engage with many international teams coming to Sri Lanka for tours and threw balls in their practice matches.International career
Gurusinha was called up at 19 as a wicket-keeper, a role he took in a further two ODIs and one Test. Gurusinha was the 32nd Sri Lankan Test cap, making his debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 1985/86. He was also a useful part-time bowler, with Michael Atherton, Sunil Gavaskar, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh and Inzamam-ul-Haq among his 20 Test wickets. He gradually established himself as a No. 3 batsman, playing 33 Tests and 109 ODIs in that position, and was described by Simon Wilde of Cricinfo as "the rock on which Sri Lankan batting was founded". He was also known for his big stature and wide stance when batting.During the 1992-93 season, Sri Lanka received many international sides. In the first test against Australia, Gurusinha scored his fourth Test century with 137 runs in Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. In the match, Romesh Kaluwitharana and captain Arjuna Ranatunga also made centuries, the first time where three Sri Lankan batsmen scored centuries in the same innings. In the meantime, the total went pass 500 for the first time in Sri Lankan cricket history. He batted for nine hours and built a partnership of 230 with Ranatunga, then second-highest partnership for any wicket for Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka finally lost the match.
His application at the crisis situations to drag the team scorecard was a major highlight for those who watched the World Series tournament back in 1996. Gurusinha was one of the main pillars of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning batting line up. He retired from the format after the match against Pakistan on 8 November 1996.
He was the first Sri Lankan to score a Test century at Seddon Park.
Coaching career
He is a Level 3 certified Cricket Coach, and was also the Consultant Regional Cricket Coach for Cricket Australia. Gurusinha was appointed as the Manager for the National Cricket Team of Sri Lanka in 2017. However, with consecutive defeats to India in all formats, Gurusinha along with the selection committee resigned from their positions on 29 August 2017. The resignation did not last for a week, where on 19 September 2017, Gurusinha was re-appointed as the selector, along with three new selectors – Graeme Labrooy, Jeryl Woutersz, Gamini Wickremasinghe, and Sajith Fernando.In December 2020, he was appointed as head coach of Nigeria national cricket team. He resigned in April 2022.