Pathum Nissanka — deliberate, relentless, and built to last
Some batters arrive with a bang, others like the slow unfurling of dawn. Pathum Nissanka, the 28-year-old Sri Lankan opener, has done both. Since his international debut in 2021, he has quietly become the bedrock of the national side across formats. His rise has not been a flash in the pan but a steady progression, insistent, measured, and impossible to ignore.
The loudest statement of his career so far came at Pallekele in February last year when he smashed Sri Lanka’s first-ever double century in ODI cricket and joined the exclusive club of cricketers with double tons in white-ball cricket. On a sweltering afternoon, Nissanka scored an unbeaten 210 from 139 balls against Afghanistan, striking 20 fours and eight sixes. In doing so, he surpassed Sanath Jayasuriya’s long-standing record of 189. Jayasuriya, present in the crowd, later admitted he felt “pure bliss” witnessing the milestone fall. Nissanka’s innings, constructed through partnerships of 182 with Avishka Fernando and 120 with Sadeera Samarawickrama, combined dominance with control. Teammates hailed it as a “masterclass in ODI batting,” and many believe it changed the side’s self-perception.
What made the Pallekele innings remarkable was not just its statistical heft, but its timing. Sri Lanka’s batting had long been fragile, prone to collapses and inconsistency. Nissanka’s ability to anchor the innings while accelerating at will provided the side with something it had desperately lacked: stability at the top that could ignite firepower.
His impact extends to the Test arena as well. The Oval in 2024 offered a defining example. Sri Lanka were set 219 to win against England on a tricky pitch, and Nissanka produced an unbeaten 127 off 124 balls, reaching his century in just 107 deliveries. His innings steered the team to only their fourth Test win in England in over 40 years. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva described it as “very special,” praising Nissanka’s composure against high-quality bowling.
That hundred was a turning point. Beyond scoring runs overseas, the manner in which he did so—taking on England’s seamers with authority, using his feet against spin, and thriving under the pressure of a fourth-innings chase—signalled his capacity not just to survive but dominate in challenging conditions. In 18 Test matches, Nissanka has scored four centuries, including his debut century against West Indies, a hundred in the Caribbean, and two more against Bangladesh in Galle and Colombo. Since January 2023, he has scored 768 runs in nine games across all formats at an average of 51.20, a notable improvement from a previous average of 38.35.
In T20s, he has also flourished. Early doubts about whether his classical technique could adapt to the shortest format have been emphatically dispelled. He scored his maiden T20I century against India in last month’s Asia Cup in Dubai. Since 2023, his strike rate has risen from the mid-120s to nearly 140, with his average climbing to the mid-30s—a rare balance of aggression and reliability. In a format where Sri Lanka often struggled to match modern scoring rates, Nissanka’s evolution has been vital.
Statistics underline the story of his recent surge. Since the start of 2023, Nissanka has scored 4,233 international runs across formats, with centuries in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. His landmark knocks—the 210 in Pallekele, the Oval hundred, a career-best 187 against Bangladesh in 2025, and the T20I century—have all come in the last two years. That 187, made in response to Bangladesh’s daunting 495, showcased his appetite for long innings. In ODIs, Sri Lanka rarely lose when he scores a hundred, and in Tests, his conversion rate from fifties to hundreds has improved markedly.
Embedded within these numbers is a story of growth. Early in his career, Nissanka was criticised for failing to convert starts, often dismissed between 30 and 50. In the past two years, those half-centuries have increasingly become centuries, and centuries have frequently turned into match-defining innings. The double hundred was the obvious peak, but smaller knocks have also reflected the same maturity: pacing, discipline, and a refusal to squander a platform.
Opposition teams have taken note. Bowlers now plan entire spells around him, captains set fields with meticulous care, and coaches strategise on how to disrupt his rhythm. More often than not, however, the game bends back to him. He is not the kind of batter to be rushed. He rides out the storms, and when the moment is right, he surges ahead. This ability to manage pressure has made him Sri Lanka’s most reliable top-order player.
For Sri Lankan cricket, his emergence could not have come at a better time. The team has long needed an opener capable of adapting across formats. Nissanka provides that stability. His presence at the top gives the middle order breathing space and the bowling unit a sense of backing. Younger players benefit from having a dependable partner to build with. In an era when Sri Lanka are striving to reclaim their place among the world’s best, Nissanka has become the central pillar.
Looking at the recent scoreboard, the story is clear: over 4,300 runs across formats, the first Sri Lankan to post 210 in an ODI, a match-winning hundred at The Oval, a career-best 187 in Tests, and a maiden T20I century. Beyond the milestones, the story of Pathum Nissanka is about consistency and growth. Small adjustments at the crease, belief under pressure, and the steady accumulation of excellence have transformed him into one of Sri Lanka’s most indispensable players.
If the coming years bring more centuries and defining innings, they will feel inevitable—an extension of a tide already reshaping the landscape of Sri Lankan cricket. For Nissanka, the rise has been neither sudden nor fleeting; it has been deliberate, relentless, and built to last.