He bats, he bowls and he tops charts with both. A technically sound batsman who is a welcome throwback to the times when batting was artistic, Dhananjaya de Silva rose up the ranks through age-division cricket. Much like most other talents in Sri Lanka, he started off with a call-up into the national U-19 squad. But the real moment of recognition came in 2015 when he made heads turn around and take notice after a string of strong performances with the bat.

He followed it up with staggering numbers in the Super T20 Provincial Tournament across six innings. He further capped off the season starring in Tamil Union's first First Class title in 55 years amassing 868 runs at 54.20. As if that wasn't enough, he ended up as his side's top wicket-taker as well, bowling his wily off-spin. A national call-up to the Test squad soon followed for Sri Lanka's tour to the UK.