Does Dasun Shanaka deserve an IPL contract? 3 T20 innings that prove his worth

Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka has been very inspirational for a side that has been going through a transition period. Not only has he been tactically sound, but with a willow in hand, he has also won his team some memorable matches.

You would think a player of that caliber would surely have an IPL contract. But that has not been the case for Shanaka. The Sri Lankan has put his name in the auction multiple times over the years, but IPL teams have never shown any interest in him.

The 31-year-old was criminally underrated at a base price of 50 lakhs at this year's auction. In 2022, Shanaka scored 497 runs from 25 matches in T20s with a strike rate of over 135. He is also a useful medium-pacer. As Sri Lanka's white-ball captain, he comes with a plethora of cricketing experience as well.

With some breathtaking innings last year, it is a mystery why has not been recruited by any team yet. Let us look at three Shanaka innings in 2022 that prove he deserves a spot in the IPL.

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#1 54* off 25 against Australia, Pallekele 2022

Sri Lanka were 2-0 down in the series, with a whitewash imminent even on their home ground. On a dry pitch, useful contributions from Warner, Finch, and Smith and a fabulous cameo from Stoinis helped Australia put up a challenging score of 176/5.

In reply, Sri Lanka were reeling at 96/4 when Shanaka arrived at the crease. They soon got reduced to 98/5. The Sri Lankan skipper initially took his time and stabilized the innings. Sri Lanka were down and out until the 17th over, when they needed 57 runs off three overs.

Then the Shanaka show began. He amassed 22, 18, and 19 from the next three overs of Hazelwood, Kane Richardson, and Jhye Richardson, respectively, and won his team a match out of nowhere single-handedly.

His 25-ball blitz was solely responsible for Sri Lanka avoiding the whitewash.

#2 74* off 38 against India, Dharmshala 2022

Despite eventually losing the match, this was one of Shanaka's finest innings.

Trailing 2-0 in the series, SL were once again on the verge of a whitewash against India. Batting first on a good batting surface, Sri Lanka were once again looking at their skipper to bail them out from a very precarious situation at 29-4.

Initially, the skipper had to nudge around for singles and reconstruct the innings along with Dinesh Chandimal. When Chandimal got out, with the team's score reading 60/5, Sri Lanka were scoring below 5 runs an over. It looked like they would score some 120 odd runs.

The 31-year-old then started teeing off and accelerated the innings with an array of spectacular shots. He did not spare any of the Indian bowlers and played shots in all parts of the ground.

He made 74 off just 38 balls and helped Sri Lanka reach a fighting total of 146/5.

#3 47* off 19 against India, Dharmshala 2022

Talk about showing intent and leading from the front, and this innings from Dasun Shanaka is a testimony to that.

After getting hammered in Lucknow, the Sri Lankan skipper asked his batsmen to show aggression in their approach. They did try to play as their skipper asked, but the result was not different at all.

At 102-4 when he arrived at the crease at 14.4 overs, it looked like they would end up with an under-par score of 150+.

But the skipper had other ideas; he did what he had asked his batsmen to do. Batting with intent.

He started tonking from the get-go and smacked all the Indian bowlers. He took a special liking to Harshal Patel, whom he plundered with 4 sixes and 3 fours and raised the Sri Lankan's score to 183/5. An innings of the highest quality.