Chamari Athapaththu, Pathum Nissanka named SL Cricketers of the Year
What's the story
Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu and Pathum Nissanka have been awarded the Women's and Men's Cricketer of the Year honors at the Sri Lanka Cricket Awards. The event celebrated individual excellence in Test, ODI, and T20I formats for 2025. It also honored contributions to domestic cricket and recognized legends for their lifetime achievements in the sport.
Rising stars
Emerging players of the year
The awards ceremony also recognized emerging talents in Sri Lankan cricket.
Kamil Mishara and Imesha Dulani were named the Men's and Women's Emerging Players of the Year, respectively.
Mishara's T20I performances were instrumental in his selection, while Dulani's recent innings against Pakistan helped her clinch the title despite limited opportunities throughout the year.
Award sweep
Athapaththu's dominance in allrounder categories
Athapaththu, a dual threat with bat and ball, dominated the awards by winning both the ODI and T20I allrounder titles.
She also won the best batter award in T20Is for her 190 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 113.77.
However, she wasn't nominated for the best ODI batter award.
Men's award
Nissanka's run across formats
Nissanka, with his prolific scoring across formats, was rightly crowned the pinnacle of men's cricket in Sri Lanka.
He scored 1,414 runs at an average of 40.40 in a limited opportunity year for Sri Lankan Test cricket.
Despite playing just five innings all year long, he managed to score 388 runs, including two centuries;
in ODIs, Nissanka wasn't able to match his vintage 2024 but still struck a respectable 401 runs in 12 matches at an average of 30.84.
It was in T20Is that he shone the most as he scored a career-best of 625 at a strike rate of 149.16 across 18 matches.
Award haul
Other notable men's awards
Nissanka's prolific scoring across formats earned him the best batter prize in Tests and T20Is.
However, he lost the ODI award to Charith Asalanka who scored 494 runs at an average of 44.90.
Dushmantha Chameera won the best bowler award for T20Is with a career-best of 22 wickets across 14 games, while Asitha Fernando took home the ODI accolade with 23 wickets across 12 games.
All-rounder accolades
All-rounder and bowler awards for men
Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga won the best all-rounder awards for T20Is and ODIs respectively.
Shanaka scored 220 runs with eight wickets across 17 matches while Hasaranga scored 207 runs with 18 wickets in 10 ODIs.
In Tests, Prabath Jayasuriya's 15 wickets in seven innings earned him the best bowler award while Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva took home the best Test allrounder award.
Domestic honors
Highlights from domestic cricket section
The ceremony also focused on domestic cricket.
Navy Sports Club won the Major Club Women's 50 Over Tournament while Colombo Cricket Club dominated in both T20 and 50-over competitions.
Colts Cricket Club emerged victorious in the Major Club 3-Day Tournament.
Veteran official Ravindra Kottahachchi was honored with the match officials award, taking home the title of Umpire of the Year.