Upul Tharanga

Upul Tharanga
උපුල් තරංග
Personal information
Full name Warushavithana Upul Tharanga
Born 2 February 1985
Balapitiya, Sri Lanka
Batting style Left-handed
International information
National side
  • Sri Lanka
Test debut 18 December 2005 v India
Last Test 18 December 2007 v England
ODI debut 2 August 2005 v West Indies
Last ODI 8 March 2015 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2000–01 Singha Sports Club
2003–present Nondescripts Cricket Club
2007–present Ruhuna
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs FC LA
Matches 19 177 115 289
Runs scored 1,019 5,343 7,232 8,869
Batting average 30.87 33.39 39.30 33.46
100s/50s 1/5 13/28 17/28 20/50
Top score 165 174* 265* 174*
Balls bowled – – 18 –
Wickets – – 0 –
Bowling average – – – –
5 wickets in innings – – 0 –
10 wickets in match – – 0 –
Best bowling – – 0/4 –
Catches/stumpings 13/– 33/– 80/1 77/2
Source: Cricinfo, 8 March 2015

Warushavithana Upul Tharanga (born 2 February 1985), commonly known as Upul Tharanga - උපුල් තරංග, is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman and wicketkeeper.

Early life

Upul Tharanga had his education at Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda. He started his cricket career as a teenager at his school. Having played for Nondescripts since the age of 15, he played for Sri Lanka's under-15, under-17 and under-19 squads. He had a successful under-19 World Cup in 2004 with successful innings of 117 and 61 in successive games. He was sent by the Sri Lankan cricketing board to play league cricket for Loughton Cricket Club in Essex.

Tharanga's Sri Lankan call-up in July 2005 made for a mixed 2005, after his family home was washed away by the Asian tsunami. His equipment, which was also washed away, was replaced by Kumar Sangakkara. Tharanga graduated to the "A" team and in July he was selected for the full squad.

International career

On the 2006 tour of England he really began to develop, particularly in the one-day game, scoring over 300 runs in Sri Lanka's 5–0 whitewash of the hosts. In addition, Tharanga is also well known for taking part in a record-breaking first wicket partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya in the final match of this series. He finished off with 109 off 102 balls, and played a pivotal role in completing the whitewash against England.

Tharanga lost his form in the 2007 World Cup scoring only one half century (against New Zealand) he then continued his poor run of form in the home series against England in 2007 where he failed to contribute and often fell before the 10th over often resulting in a middle-order collapse. Subsequently he lost his ODI place to Malinda Warnapura and his test place to Michael Vandort but he remains within the squad.

However, in the 2011 World Cup, he is back to performing remarkably. In the quarter-final game against England, his partnership with Dilshan could not be pierced. Together they wrapped up the game, each acquiring centuries. His strong form has returned him to the opening position in the strong Sri-Lankan batting line up.

He has also come in for special praise from Jayasuriya, one of the greats of cricket, saying that he could be the next captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team.

Upul Tharanga is the second batsman in the world who was involved with 7 times 200+ partnerships in ODI cricket. The only other player to achieve this feat is Ricky Ponting.[1]

On 2 July 2013, Upul Tharanga scored the second highest odi score of 174* by a Sri Lankan only behind Sanath Jayasuriya who scored 189 against India. With that innings he became the 9th Sri Lankan player to pass 5000 runs margin. He has earned 13 centuries and 11 man of the match titles for his name throughout his international career.

Doping violation

A urine sample provided by Tharanga after the world cup semi-final against New Zealand on 29 March 2011 was found to have metabolites of two glucocorticosteroids – prednisone and prednisolone, which are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.[2][3] Tharanga initially claimed he had taken some medication for asthma and had no idea it was a banned drug.[4]

An independent anti-doping tribunal was convened at which Tharanga pleaded guilty, claiming he had taken some herbal remedy to ease discomfort caused by a long-standing shoulder injury.[2] The tribunal accepted that Tharanga "had no intention to enhance his sporting performance or to mask the use of another performance enhancing substance, but that he had failed to satisfy the high levels of personal responsibility implicit upon him as an international cricketer subject to anti-doping rules".[2] The tribunal found Tharanga guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Doping Code and banned him from all cricket and cricket-related activities for a three-month period (9 May 2011 to 8 August 2011).[2][5][6]

International Centuries

Test Centuries

Upul Tharanga's Test centuries
No Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year Result
[1] 165  Bangladesh Bangladesh Bogra, Bangladesh Shaheed Chandu Stadium 2006

One Day International Centuries

Upul Tharanga's One Day International centuries
No Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year Result
[1] 105 5  Bangladesh Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium 2005
[2] 103 12  New Zealand New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand Jade Stadium 2006
[3] 120 23  England United Kingdom London, England, United Kingdom Lord's Cricket Ground 2006
[4] 109 27  England United Kingdom Leeds, England, United Kingdom Headingley Stadium 2006
[5] 105 31  Bangladesh India Chandigarh, India Punjab Cricket Association Stadium 2006
[6] 121 32  Zimbabwe India Ahmedabad, India Sardar Patel Stadium 2006
[7] 118 86  India India Kolkata, India Eden Gardens 2009
[8] 118* 90  Bangladesh Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium 2009
[9] 101* 111  West Indies Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2011
[10] 133 117  Zimbabwe Sri Lanka Kandy, Sri Lanka Pallekele International Cricket Stadium 2011
[11] 102* 119  England Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium 2011
[12] 111 139  Australia Sri Lanka Hambantota, Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium 2011
[13] 174* 164  India Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2013

Highest One Day International Partnership Involvements

The following table illustrates a summary of 200+ ODI partnerships in which Upul Tharanga involved.

200+ One Day International partnerships in which Upul Tharanga involved
Partnership RunsPartner WicketAgainst City/Country Venue Year Match
[1] 286 109 Sanath Jayasuriya 1  England Leeds, England Headingley 2006 ODI # 2389
[2] 201 68 Sanath Jayasuriya 1  New Zealand Napier, New Zealand McLean Park 2006 ODI # 2468
[3] 202 76 Mahela Jayawardene 1  Pakistan Dambulla, Sri Lanka Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium 2009 ODI # 2867
[4] 215 118* Mahela Jayawardene 1  Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh S.B National Stadium 2010 ODI # 2940
[5] 282 133 Tillakaratne Dilshan 1  Zimbabwe Kandy, Sri Lanka Pallekele International Cricket Stadium 2011 ODI # 3125
[6] 231* 102* Tillakaratne Dilshan 1  England Colombo, Sri Lanka R Premadasa Stadium 2011 ODI # 3145
[7] 213 174* Mahela Jayawardene 1  India Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2013 ODI # 3382

One-Day International Cricket – Man of the Match Awards

# Series Season Against Match Performance Result
1 2nd Match – Bangladesh in Sri Lanka 2005  Bangladesh 105  Sri Lanka Won by 75 runs[7]
2 2nd Match – Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2005–06  New Zealand 103  New Zealand Won by 5 wickets[8]
3 1st ODI – Sri Lanka in England 2006 2006  England 120  Sri Lanka Won by 20 runs[9]
4 1st Qualifying Match – 2006 ICC Champions Trophy 2006  Bangladesh 105  Sri Lanka Won by 37 runs[10]
5 3rd Qualifying Match – 2006 ICC Champions Trophy 2006  Zimbabwe 110  Sri Lanka Won by 144 runs[11]
6 4th Match – Tri-Series in Bangladesh in 2009–10 2009–10  Bangladesh 118 ; 1 Ct.  Sri Lanka Won by 9 wickets[12]
7 2nd Match – Sri Lanka Triangular Series in 2010 2010  New Zealand 70  Sri Lanka Won by 3 wickets[13]
8 2nd Match – Sri Lankan cricket team in Australia in 2010–11 2010–11  Australia 86*  Sri Lanka Won by 29 runs (D/L)[14]
9 2nd Match – West Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2010–11 20011  West Indies 101*  Sri Lanka Won by 8 wickets (D/L)[15]
10 3rd Match – Australian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2011 2011  Australia 111  Sri Lanka Won by 78 runs[16]
11 3rd Match – West Indies Triangular Series in 2013 2013  India 174* ; 1 Ct.  Sri Lanka Won by 161 runs[17]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.espncricinfo.com/tri-nation-west-indies-2013/content/story/647137.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Upul Tharanga found guilty of breaching ICC Anti-Doping Code". International Cricket Council. 24 June 2011.
  3. ↑ Pathirana, Saroj (8 June 2011). "Sri Lanka confirm Upul Tharanga dope test positive". BBC Sport.
  4. ↑ http://www.islandcricket.lk/news/srilankacricket/113290530/sri-lanka-ministry-confirms-tharanga-failed-dope-test
  5. ↑ "Sri Lanka's Upul Tharanga banned for three months for doping violation". The Guardian. 24 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Sri Lanka opener Tharanga banned for three months after positive drug test". Daily Mail. 24 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "Bangladeshi cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2005–06 – Scorecard of 2nd Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Sri Lankan cricket team in New Zealand in 2005–06 – Scorecard of the 2nd ODI". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2006 – Scorecard of the 1st ODI". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "2006 ICC Champions Trophy – Scorecard of the 1st qualifying Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "2006 ICC Champions Trophy – Scorecard of the 3rd qualifying Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Tri-Series in Bangladesh in 2009–10 – Scorecard of 4th match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Sri Lanka Triangular Series in 2010 – Scorecard of the 2nd Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Sri Lankan cricket team in Australia in 2010–11 – Scorecard of the 2nd Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "West Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2010–11 – Scorecard of the 2nd Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "Australian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2011 – Scorecard of the 3rd Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "West Indies Triangular Series in 2013 – Scorecard of the 3rd Match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2013.