Sadeera Samarawickrama Height, Weight, Age, Body Statistics

Sadeera Samarawickrama is a Sri Lankan professional cricketer who has represented his country in all 3 formats of the sport (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is), as a middle-order batter and wicketkeeper. Before breaking into the senior national team in October 2017, he was a part of the Sri Lankan squad at the 2014 ICC (International Cricket Council) Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Sri Lanka finished the tournament in 8th place in a field of 16 teams. He was Sri Lanka’s highest run-getter (the 8th-highest overall) in the tournament (265 runs in 6 matches). He was also the only player in the entire tournament to have crossed the 50-run mark four times. In the Sri Lankan domestic circuit, Sadeera has played for Colts Cricket Club, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, Galle, Dambulla, and Kandy across all 3 formats. At the franchise level, he has turned out for Dambulla Viiking (2020), Galle Gladiators (2021), and Jaffna Kings (2022) in the LPL (Lanka Premier League). He was a key member of the Jaffna Kings squad that had won the LPL title in the 3rd edition of the tournament, in December 2022.

Born Name

Wedagedara Sadeera Rashen Samarawickrama

Nick Name

Sadeera

Sun Sign

Virgo

Born Place

Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Residence

Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka

Nationality

Education

Sadeera had attended Thurstan College, a national school providing primary and secondary education for boys, situated in Colombo. He later studied at St. Joseph’s College, a selective entry Catholic school, also located in Colombo.

Occupation

Professional Cricketer

Batting

Right-Handed

Role

Middle-Order Batter, Wicketkeeper

Jersey Number

23 – One Day International (ODI), T20 International (T20I), Colts Cricket Club (Sri Lankan Domestic Cricket), Galle Gladiators (LPL), Jaffna Kings (LPL)

Build

Athletic

Height

5 ft 8 in or 173 cm

Weight

68 kg or 150 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Sadeera has dated –

1. Thilakshi Gamage (2013-Present) – Sadeera began dating his high school sweetheart Thilakshi Gamage in May 2013. They eventually got married on February 2, 2021, in a ceremony held in Colombo.

Race / Ethnicity

Asian

He is of Sri Lankan descent.

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Dark Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Toned physique
• Slightly overgrown, side-cropped, wavy hair
• Affable smile
• Sports a thick beard

Religion

Christianity

Sadeera Samarawickrama Facts

1. In Sri Lanka’s 2nd match of the group stage of the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, against England, Sadeera top-scored for Sri Lanka with a critical knock of 82 runs in a tricky chase of a target of 231 runs. Sri Lanka won the match by just 1 wicket and Sadeera was named the ‘Player of the Match’ for his performance. Later in the tournament, he top-scored for Sri Lanka (58 runs) in the team’s 5th place play-off semi-final as well but his performance was unable to prevent a 76-run defeat to India.
2. He first came into the spotlight on the domestic circuit when he finished as the leading run-getter in the 2016-17 season of the Premier League Tournament (the 29th season of the Premier Trophy, the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka). He had amassed 1,016 runs in just 10 matches that season.
3. On March 30, 2017, Sadeera top-scored (121 runs) for Sri Lanka in the last match of ‘Group A’, against Malaysia, of the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Emerging Teams Asia Cup, the 2nd edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, a List-A cricket tournament that was started in 2013 to exhibit the talents of the most prominent young cricketers of Asia. He was named the ‘Player of the Match’ for his brilliant hundred.
4. Sri Lanka went on to win the match by 205 runs and the margin of victory proved decisive in Sri Lanka’s qualification for the semi-final stage of the tournament. Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and India had all finished the group stage with 4 points at the end of this match but Sri Lanka’s massive win against Malaysia meant that the team topped the group with the best net run rate (+1.367) among these teams while defending champion India (+0.836) was knocked out.
5. In the semi-final of the tournament, against Bangladesh, Sadeera top-scored again for Sri Lanka (88 runs not out) to help the team hunt down a modest target of 180 runs with 8 wickets to spare. In the final, against Pakistan, he top-scored for Sri Lanka for the 3rd match in a row (45 runs this time) to help the team chase down a target of 134 runs with 5 wickets to spare.
6. Sadeera finished the tournament as the 2nd-highest run-scorer (282 runs in 5 matches), only behind teammate Charith Asalanka (338 runs in 5 matches) who was named the ‘Player of the Series’.
7. He made his test match (and international) debut for Sri Lanka on October 6, 2017, against Pakistan, in Dubai, in the 2nd match of a 2-match bilateral away test series. This was the first time that Sri Lanka had participated in a day-night test match and only the 6th time that such a match had been conducted. Sri Lanka went on to win the match by 68 runs and consequently the series, by a 2-0 margin. It was the first instance of Pakistan being whitewashed in a bilateral series held in the United Arab Emirates.
8. Sadeera made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka later that month, also against Pakistan, in the 4th match of a 5-match bilateral away ODI series. He was dismissed for a 2-ball duck (out for a score of zero runs) in that match, as Pakistan went on to win by 7 wickets. In the next (5th and last) match of the series, he was dismissed for a 3-ball duck, as Pakistan went on to win by 9 wickets.
9. This made him just the 3rd batsman in history to have been dismissed for a duck in his first 2 ODI matches. He was in good company though as the first 2 gentlemen to record this unwanted feat were both batting maestros – Sachin Tendulkar and Kane Williamson. Pakistan won this ODI series by a 5-0 margin which made Sri Lanka the first team in history to have been whitewashed by a 5-0 margin in a bilateral ODI series thrice in the same calendar year. Sri Lanka had previously suffered this fate against South Africa in January 2017 and against India in August 2017.
10. Sadeera made his T20I debut for Sri Lanka on October 26, 2017, again against Pakistan, in the 1st match of a 3-match away bilateral T20I series. Pakistan won the series by a 3-0 margin. The last match of this T20I series was played in Lahore. It was the first time that the Sri Lankan cricket team had visited Pakistan since March 2009 when they were attacked by terrorists while traveling to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
11. The start of his international career with Sri Lanka was, thus, unique, to say the least – he made his debut in all 3 formats in the same month (October 2017) and against the same team (Pakistan). All 3 series finished within that month (October 29, 2017, was the date on which the last match of the T20I series was played) and all the 3 series ended in a whitewash. He was also involved in landmark moments in each of those series – Sri Lanka’s first day-night test match, his dismissal for ducks in his first 2 ODIs, and the Sri Lankan cricket team’s return to Pakistan after more than 8 years (in the T20I series).
12. In November 2017, for his performances in the 2016-17 season, Sadeera was honored with the ‘Domestic Batsman of the Year’ award at the annual awards ceremony of SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket, the governing body for the sport in the country).

Featured Image by Sadeera Samarawickrama / Instagram