Avishka Fernando


Weerahandige Inol Avishka Fernando, commonly as Avishka Fernando, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who currently plays limited over internationals for Sri Lanka national team. He plays for Colts Cricket Club in domestic cricket, and he made his international debut for the Sri Lanka cricket team in August 2016. He had his education in St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa.

Youth and domestic career

Avishka Fernando has the record for scoring the most runs in Youth ODI history for Sri Lanka He too has the record for scoring the most centuries for Sri Lanka in Youth ODI history.
He was also the part of the Sri Lankan team which won the ACC Emerging teams asia cup 2017 by defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets.
He made his Twenty20 debut for Colts Cricket Club in the 2017–18 SLC Twenty20 Tournament on 24 February 2018.
In April 2018, he was named in Kandy's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. In August 2018, he was named in Colombo's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League. In March 2019, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Chattogram Challengers in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.
He hit 95 from 96 balls in Sri Lanka's victory over England in the quarter-final of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, and later in the year would hit two consecutive hundreds against the same opposition, this time in a bilateral series in England. Sri Lanka U-19s whitewashed England U-19s for the first time in England as well.

International career

As an 18-year-old, he has been picked in Sri Lankan ODI squad for their home series against Australia. He earned his first call-up to the national ODI team without having played any T20 or List A or first-class cricket. He made his One Day International debut for Sri Lanka against Australia on 31 August 2016 at Dambulla. He was dismissed for a duck after facing two balls from Mitchell Starc.
In December 2018, he was named in Sri Lanka team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. He made his Twenty20 International debut for Sri Lanka against South Africa on 19 March 2019.
In April 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He played as the opening partner for skipper Dimuth Karunaratne in ODI series against Scotland prior to the World Cup. In the second ODI, he scored his maiden ODI fifty. Sri Lanka won the match by 35 runs in DLS method.
In his first World Cup appearance, he scored 49 runs against England. His stroke play against England pacer Jofra Archer with 24 off 15 balls was described by former Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara as, "He's got timing, this boy!" on TV commentary. Sri Lanka won the match by 20 runs to continue fourth consecutive World Cup win over England. On 1 July 2019, in the match against the West Indies, he scored his first century in ODIs, becoming the 27th Sri Lankan to score a century. Sri Lanka won the match by 20 runs and Fernando won his first man of the match award. Following the World Cup, the International Cricket Council named Fernando as the rising star of the squad.
During second ODI against Bangladesh, he scored a match-winning knock 82 off 75 balls to win the match by 7 wickets. With that match, Sri Lanka won the series 2-0 which was recorded as their first win after 44 months in home soil. Fernando won man of the match award for his batting performance.
He was named in Sri Lanka's squad for tour of Pakistan in September, 2019. He scored only 4 runs in the two matches against Pakistan where Sri Lanka lost the series 2-0.
On 25 February 2020 against West Indies, Fernando scored his second ODI century. He along with Kusal Mendis put a 239-run partnership for the third wicket. This is the highest third wicket partnership for Sri Lanka in ODIs. Fernando scored 127 runs and Mendis scored 119 runs to post a imposing total of 345, which is recorded as the highest ODI total without hitting a six. West Indies collapse in the chase and Sri Lanka won the match by 161 runs. This is the biggest win in terms of runs against Windies by Sri Lanka in ODIs as well. With this win, Sri Lanka won the series 2-0 to give them an unassailable lead in the series. Fernando won the man of the match award for match winning batting performance.