Koralegedera Nadeeja Ashen Bandara, also known as Ashen Bandara, is a budding all-rounder who is coming through the ranks for Sri Lankan cricket. A middle-order batter and an occasional leg-break bowler who has been representing his national side since 2021, Bandara made his T20 debut for Galle during the 2016 local T20 tournament, before representing the country in the 2018 U-19 WC. After the ICC event, the all-rounder made his First-Class and List-A debut for Galle Cricket Club in 2018. The Galle-born played a useful hand in domestic cricket, including his century for Saracens Sports Club in the 2019–20 SLC Twenty20 Tournament. The Lankan was also part of the squad during the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup and the 2019 South Asian Games. In October 2020, the Galle-based cricketer was drafted by the Dambulla Viiking for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League. The Sri Lankan national selectors couldn’t ignore the budding talent of Bandara and picked him for the limited-overs series of West Indies in 2021. Bandara scored two ODI half-centuries in his maiden international tour. Later that year, the allrounder was selected in the ODI squad against Bangladesh. In this short span of time, the batting-allrounder has shown that he can become a force for Sri Lanka, in the coming future. (As of May 2021)
