Dilhara Lokuhettige

Dilhara Lokuhettige is one of the first Sri Lankan cricketers to be labeled a Twenty20 specialist. His reputation as a dangerous Twenty20 player has been built on his powerful batting - as a pinch-hitter or lower order batsman - coupled with his bustling seam bowling.

As a schoolboy, Lokuhettige captained Asoka Vidyalaya in Colombo from the Under-13 age group up to the First XI. He got his first major break towards earning a national cap when he joined Bloomfield in 1999 and met Ruchira Palliyaguru, the club's fast bowler, who recommended him to the Sri Lanka Cricket fast-bowling academy. There he came under the watchful eyes of Champaka Ramanayake, the head of the academy. Lokuhettige played one season for Antonians SC and then joined Galle CC where Ramanayake was also the coach. Lokuhettige got his international break in 2005 during the Indian Oil Cup but a side strain ruled him out of the following tours to New Zealand and Australia.

Lokuhettige is not an express fast bowler but he is accurate and can swing the ball both ways. He is a hard-hitting batsmen too, with his favourite stroke being the lofted drive. Sri Lanka's selectors started to eye him as a possible Twenty20 specialist in 2007 when he was called up to the 20-man training pool for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. He also has a reputation for being a match-winner in six-a-side cricket, having played four times in the Hong Kong Sixes. In 2007 he played a crucial role in helping Sri Lanka win the tournament, smashing 30 in an over during the semi-final against New Zealand. Earlier in 2008 he excelled during the inaugural Provincial Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka and also gained experienced playing club cricket in England. Lokuhettige was called up for Sri Lanka's Twenty20 squad in September 2008.
Sa'adi Thawfeeq October 2008