Pathira Vasan Dushmantha Chameera (born 12 January 1992), better known as Dushmantha Chameera, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for all three formats for the national team, He is a Right-arm fast bowler and also a handy lower order batsman. He plays cricket domestically for Nondescripts Cricket Club. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in January 2015.[1] He is currently the most experienced fast bowler in the Sri Lanka Cricket team. He missed many opportunities to play for Sri Lanka due to his injuries.
A right-arm fast bowler, Chameera made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka against New Zealand on 29 January 2015.[14] He took his first international wicket in his first over when he bowled Ross Taylor, and he also dismissed Grant Elliott, with Sri Lanka winning the match.
Chameera was selected to the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, but did not take part in first few matches. He was picked for the squad against Sri Lanka's last pool A match against Scotland, where he took 3 wickets for 51 runs. Sri Lanka went on to win the match.[15]
Chameera made his Test debut against Pakistan in June 2015. He received the 129th Test cap for Sri Lanka.[16] He took his first Test wicket when he bowled Zulfiqar Babar for 5 runs. In the second innings of the same match, he guided Sri Lanka to the win by taking three wickets finishing with figures of 4/76 in 28.5 overs in both innings. He suffered a side-strain in the match and was ruled out of the third Test of the series.[17] He made his Twenty20 International debut for Sri Lanka against the West Indies on 9 November 2015.[18]
In May 2018, Chameera was one of 33 cricketers to be awarded a national contract by Sri Lanka Cricket ahead of the 2018–19 season.[19][20] In May 2021, in the third match against Bangladesh, Chameera took his first five-wicket haul in an ODI match and he was also the man of the match in the same match.[21] In the third ODI against South Africa on 7 September 2021, Chameera made an impressive match winning opening bowling performance. Finally, Sri Lanka won by 78 runs and Chameera adjudged man of the match as well.[22] Later the same month, Chameera was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[23] His no-ball in a game against Australia in the T20 World Cup was described by the press as "a contender for one of the worst deliveries of all-time", "worst ball bowled", and "one of the filthiest balls you will ever witness".[24][25][26]
Chamika Karunaratne was named as a reserve player. Chamika Karunaratne replaced the injured Dasun Shanaka. Angelo Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera were named as travelling reserves. Angelo Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera replaced the injured Matheesha Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara.
