Sonal Dinusha: The making of a methodical Sri Lankan gem

Sonal Dinusha was struggling against the short ball and was desperate for a solution. The diminutive batter was with Sri Lanka A in Darwin in July 2025 when Australia A's tall pace attack began peppering him with bouncers. Mitchell Perry, Liam Scott and Henry Thornton all stood over six feet tall and could bowl fast and short. And they did.

Dinusha's response was quick. He spoke to his coaches, worked out a tactical plan and, more importantly, spent the session break facing throwdowns designed to replicate the problem he was encountering.

"They were bowling bouncers, he was kind of struggling. So we just went, threw a few balls, had a chat with him, just sorted out what he was going to do, the tactical part of it. And then he went on," Avishka Gunawardene, then the Sri Lanka A coach, tells Cricbuzz.

Dinusha scored a 145-ball 105 in the first innings of the first unofficial Test on that tour, followed by a 191-ball 88 in the second fixture. It was his first time batting in Australia. But to the coaches who had watched him to that point, none of it was surprising. This was typical Dinusha: identify a problem, work out a solution and get on with it.

Dinusha is a prized product of Sri Lanka's system, having come through the country's deeply established school cricket structure. He started out by playing for De La Salle College in Colombo before shifting to the prestigious Mahanama college in the same city, where his current Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva also played. At both the colleges, Dinusha had a coaching namesake. Sonal Dulshan Elwalage, an SLC Level 2 coach, is only eight years older than the cricketer and played the sport himself before switching to full-time coaching.

"Dinusha began playing cricket there [De La Salle College] at the age of 12, and I worked with him from that time onwards. I was drawn to the enthusiasm he showed at such a young age," Dulshan tells Cricbuzz. As the years went by, Dulshan's determination to take Dinusha to the highest level became a motivation in itself. His own playing career had stalled because of family hardships, and coaching became his way of staying in the game.

Dulshan has watched Dinusha play many big knocks for Mahanama College but one effort from 2020 stands out for him. "He greatly enjoys winning matches and staying at the crease until the very end. I have witnessed many instances where he has batted through to the finish to secure a victory. One particularly memorable match was an Under-19 Division 1 tournament game against Richmond College, Galle," Dulshan recalls. A 19-year-old Dinusha scored an unbeaten 159 off 227 in the two-day fixture in February 2020, with 15 fours and four sixes in it.

Dinusha walked in at 20/3 in the eighth over and batted through to the end, securing a win on first innings in the 82nd over. The ability to bat time that Dinusha has displayed over the last fortnight has its origins in early days like these. He also showed his game awareness, managing the chase alongside the No.11 without exposing his partner to too much of the strike. Colombo Cricket Club's Nisal Akash faced 11 balls in an undefeated last-wicket stand that stretched for 7.3 overs.

While he was still at Mahanama college, Dinusha made his first class debut in 2018 for the Colombo Cricket Club. Ashan Priyanjan, another former Sri Lanka cricketer, has been associated with the club as a player, captain and coach, and has watched Dinusha grow into an all-round cricketer. Yet, Priyanjan goes back to Dinusha's first-ever game for the club, which has stayed etched in his memory.

"I still remember he batted out of position at No.3. He's a No.6 batter but for the team's balance he batted at No.3 and got a half-century against a good bowling attack," Priyanjan tells Cricbuzz.

Dinusha scored 173 runs off just the sweep shot in the two Tests against India

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Dinusha was thrust into first-class cricket just days before he turned 18, against a Sinhalese Sports Club attack featuring Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Sachitra Senanayake. He still came through like a seasoned player.

Dinusha's cricket education has involved a succession of mentors, each at different stages of his life and career: Kalum Gangodawila, Felix Dias, Alan Rodrigo, Tharanga Dhamika. Most coaches who crossed Dinusha's path share a common opinion about him: Dinusha's career is built as much on stellar work-ethic as on the runs he scores, wickets he takes and runs he saves in the field.

"The main thing that I saw in him was he was a very organised cricketer. He was very methodical. He works hard, he knows exactly what he wants. He knows what areas he needs to work on. If there's any doubt, then he'd come and ask me. But if not, he knows exactly what he needs to do in training. He's a very smart cricketer," Gunawardene says.

At every step of the way, his application has come through in his game. Dinusha has scored 173 runs off just the sweep shot in the two Tests against India, and when asked about it after Day 4, he offered very little as an explanation behind this exceptional skill: "I am good at sweep shot, so I play it. That's all."

But being good at it hasn't come overnight. Hours have gone into perfecting the shot. "He loved playing the sweep shot. He'd train separately in the nets for it. He would finish batting and then take throwdowns just to play the sweep shot," Priyanjan revealed from their time together at CCC.

Sri Lanka's current head coach Gary Kirsten has a favourite first memory of Dinusha too: "The first time I really watched him bat properly was in the first innings in the West Indies. He came in at seven and we were 110 for five. And he put on a hundred (99) with the captain. And I thought, 'jeez, this guy can play.' And then in the second match he got 92," Kirsten said.

The South African, too, was struck by the thoughtfulness behind Dinusha's batting. "I love the way he plays Test cricket. He thinks about it. He plays to his strengths. And he is a smart cricketer. So he understands what the bowlers are trying to do to him. And then he uses his skillsets to communicate that. I think this innings (133 off 264)… what he was able to achieve, I would say would go down in Sri Lankan Test cricket history as one of the great saves."

But there is no resting on the laurels of an incredible series for Dinusha. Even before he wrapped up his third century in four innings, Dinusha was already thinking about his next tournament, and the practice session for it.

"He [Dinusha] called me yesterday [after Day 4 of Colombo Test]. He wants to come practice (on August 28) for the T20 League tournament for CCC," Priyanjan says.

On August 31, he'll be in Panadura – a city 25 kilometres south of Colombo, to feature in the Major League 50-over Tournament for CCC. A day later, he'll be at the NCC ground in Colombo to turn out in the T20 event.

Sri Lanka Cricket has a gem on its hands: a precocious talent with the gumption to put in all the grunt work behind the scenes. Sri Lanka's robust cricket structure has played its part in his rise. It is now up to SLC to give him the freedom to soar at the highest level.