The third season of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) is set to launch on July 31. Just a few weeks ahead of the tournament, the Kandy Falcons roped in Sri Lankan opening batsman Pathum Nissanka.
Previously, he represented the Colombo Stars franchise in the 2021 edition.
The 24-year-old cricketer is currently ranked 8th in ICC’s T20I rankings, which is the highest among active Sri Lankan batters.
Pathum Nissanka joins Wanindu Hasaranga in Kandy Falcons
Nissanka’s inclusion into the Falcons’ setup was made official on July 11 (Monday). After the announcement, Kandy Falcons owner Parvez Khan expressed his confidence in the youngster and claimed that he would be a “huge asset” to the team.
While speaking with Newswire, Khan said:
“Pathum’s inclusion will not only strengthen our batting but his recent experience playing in the Sri Lanka T20 team will be a huge asset to the team. I am sure the fans will be happy to see him in action for Kandy Falcons in the LPL”.
Pathum Nissanka career
The cricketer made his international debut in 2021 with a T20I against West Indies. As of now, he has featured in nine Tests, 17 ODIs and 23 T20Is for Sri Lanka. In such a short span of time, the top-order batter has already aggregated over 1,600 international runs and has become the highest-ranked T20I batter for his country.
Nissanka was struck with COVID-19 and was ruled out of Sri Lanka’s second Test match against Australia at Galle. He was replaced by Oshada Fernando as a COVID-19 substitute.