All-rounder Paktia
Wanindu Hasaranga is Paktia's Platinum pick for APL 2026 — Sri Lanka's leading wicket-taker in T20 internationals, the leading bowler at two T20 World Cups in a row, and a leg-spinner who took a hat-trick on his ODI debut.
161
T20I wickets, the most by a Sri Lankan
16
Wickets at the 2021 T20 World Cup, the most in the tournament
7/19
Best ODI figures, fifth-best in men's ODI history
Last updated 5 November 2026, 18:40 GST
Wanindu Hasaranga is Paktia's Platinum pick for APL 2026, taken fifth and last among the five Platinum players at the draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, after Muhammad Amir (Kandahar Warriors), Moeen Ali (Balkh Zwanan), Alex Hales (Nangarhar Cosmic) and Johnson Charles (Akcel United Kabul). He is the second pick on Paktia's list, behind Afghan Icon and captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and his salary is $100,000, the Platinum bracket.
He did not play in the first APL season in 2018. His name appears on none of the five team pages from the first season, and in August 2018 he was in Dambulla's squad for Sri Lanka's domestic T20 league. The 2026 season is his APL debut.
Around him, Paktia's squad includes Hashmatullah Shahidi, Noor Ahmad Lakanwal, Colin Munro, David Wiese, Gerhard Erasmus, Nahid Rana and Olly Stone, with Azhar Mahmood as coach and Waqar Younis as mentor. The season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, and his 2026 figures will be added here once the matches are played.
Figures marked To be confirmed are not in the verified source set for this player. They will be added when the APL publishes complete figures.
| Season | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Did not play | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| 2026 | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed |
| Season | Matches | Wickets | Average | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Did not play | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| 2026 | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed |
| Year | Team | Matches | Runs | Wickets | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Did not play | Did not play | Not applicable | Not applicable | Did not play |
| 2026 | Paktia | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed | To be confirmed |
7/19 in 5.5 overs, his best ODI figures.
Why it mattered: his comeback match after six months out with a hamstring injury. The figures are the fifth-best in men's ODI history and the second-best by a Sri Lankan, after Chaminda Vaas's 8/19. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets and took the series 2–0.
A hat-trick, the first by a Sri Lankan in a T20 World Cup.
Why it mattered: he finished the tournament as its leading wicket-taker, with 16 wickets in eight matches, a record for a single T20 World Cup edition at the time.
4/9 in four overs, on his 24th birthday.
Why it mattered: the best bowling spell ever recorded on a birthday in T20Is, breaking Imran Tahir's record. He was Player of the Match and Player of the Series.
A hat-trick on his ODI debut.
Why it mattered: the youngest bowler to take a hat-trick on ODI debut, only the third debutant ever to do it, and the first leg-spinner to take an ODI hat-trick.
36 runs and 3/27.
Why it mattered: a 58-run stand with Bhanuka Rajapaksa rescued Sri Lanka from 58/5, and Sri Lanka went on to win the title. He was named Player of the Tournament.
Hasaranga is a right-arm leg-break bowler who bowls with a quick arm action and a flat trajectory, which gives batters little time to read the googly. He varies his pace and length through the middle overs, and his T20I average of 15.90 shows how hard he is to score off.
With the bat he is a lower-order hitter who can change a game in a few overs, as he showed in the 2023 Lanka Premier League, where he finished as the tournament's top run-scorer with 279 runs. He is also a sharp fielder, with 39 catches in 98 T20Is.
His weakness is injury. A grade-three hamstring tear in the 2023 Lanka Premier League cost him the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup, and a hamstring injury ended his 2026 T20 World Cup after one match. When fit, he is one of the best white-ball spinners in the world. In the APL, his job is to take wickets in the middle overs and add runs down the order.
Hasaranga was born in Galle and educated at Richmond College, where he started as a seam bowler and opened the bowling at 16. He switched to leg-spin after a demonstration by his coach, Lanka de Silva, and took 28 wickets in six matches in an age-group 50-over tournament at 17. He played for Sri Lanka at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016, made his List A debut in November 2015 and his first-class debut in February 2016.
His international career began with a hat-trick on ODI debut against Zimbabwe in July 2017. He made his T20I debut against New Zealand in September 2019 and his Test debut against South Africa in December 2020, scoring a fifty in his first Test and taking four wickets in the match. He retired from Test cricket in August 2023, after four Tests. His best years came in 2021 and 2022, when he topped the wicket charts at two T20 World Cups in a row and reached No. 1 in the ICC T20I bowling rankings in November 2021.
He captained Sri Lanka in T20Is from late 2023 until July 2024, winning six of ten matches, including series wins over Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, and leading the side at the 2024 T20 World Cup. His stint included a two-match suspension in February 2024 after an argument with umpire Lyndon Hannibal in the final over of a match against Afghanistan. He stepped down on 11 July 2024, after Sri Lanka's group-stage exit from the World Cup.
In franchise cricket he has played for Jaffna in the Lanka Premier League, where he was Player of the Tournament in the inaugural 2020 season with 17 wickets, and for B-Love Kandy, whom he captained to the 2023 title. In the IPL he played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru from 2021 to 2023, taking 26 wickets in 16 matches in 2022, then missed the 2024 season with Sunrisers Hyderabad through injury and joined Rajasthan Royals for 2025. He has also played for Manchester Originals in The Hundred, Quetta Gladiators in the PSL, Desert Vipers in the ILT20, Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL.
Injuries have cost him two World Cups. A grade-three hamstring tear in the 2023 Lanka Premier League kept him out of the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup in 2023, and a hamstring injury in the opening match against Ireland ended his 2026 T20 World Cup after one game, in which he took 3/25. He returned from the first injury with 7/19 against Zimbabwe in January 2024.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s/50s | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 4 | 196 | 28.00 | 0/1 | 59 |
| ODI | 71 | 1,142 | 23.30 | 0/5 | 80* |
| T20I | 98 | 831 | 13.40 | 0/2 | 71 |
| T20 | 258 | 2,667 | 16.87 | 0/9 | 77* |
| Format | Matches | Wickets | Average | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 4 | 4 | 100.75 | 4/171 |
| ODI | 71 | 113 | 24.84 | 7/19 |
| T20I | 98 | 161 | 15.90 | 4/9 |
| T20 | 258 | 355 | 18.09 | 6/9 |
What could not be verified: his exact IPL 2025 figures for Rajasthan Royals, a single authoritative IPL career aggregate, because his 2024 season with Sunrisers Hyderabad was missed through injury and his 2025 figures are not in the verified source set, his exact figures at the 2024 T20 World Cup as captain beyond the tournament record, and his exact figures from the 2026 T20 World Cup beyond the opening match against Ireland (3/25).
Wanindu Hasaranga is in the Paktia squad for APL T20 2026. He was picked in the Platinum category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, the fifth and last Platinum pick of the draft.
No. He did not play in the first APL season in 2018. His name appears on none of the five team pages from the first season, and in August 2018 he was in Dambulla's squad for Sri Lanka's domestic T20 league. The 2026 season is his APL debut.
Leading the wicket charts at two T20 World Cups in a row, with 16 wickets in 2021 and 15 in 2022, and a hat-trick on his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in July 2017. He was also the Asia Cup 2022 Player of the Tournament.
161 wickets in 98 matches (ESPNcricinfo snapshot, 25 August 2026), the most by any Sri Lankan. He was the second-fastest bowler to 100 T20I wickets, reaching the mark in 63 matches.
APL T20 2026 starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE.
