Dambulla Sixers

Dambulla Sixers

League	Lanka Premier League
Personnel
Captain	Mohammad Nabi
Coach	Rangana Herath
Owner	Sequoia Consultants, Inc.
Team information
City	Dambulla, Central Province, Sri Lanka
Colours	Yellow
Founded	2020: Dambulla Viiking 2021: Dambulla Giants 2022: Dambulla Aura 2024: Dambulla Sixers
Home ground	Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla
Capacity	16,800
History
LPL  wins	0
T20I kit

Dambulla Sixers, previously known as Dambulla Aura, Dambulla Giants, Dambulla Viiking, and Dambulla Thunders is a franchise Twenty20 cricket team based in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, that competes in the Lanka Premier League (LPL).

In June 2021, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) terminated the franchise ahead of the 2021 Lanka Premier League, due to financial issues. ^{[1] [2]} In September 2021, the team changed their name to Dambulla Giants after changing owners. ^[3] Then, prior to the 2022 season, Aura Lanka brought the franchise and changed its name to Dambulla Aura. ^[4]

Franchise history

2020 season

Main article: Dambulla Viiking in 2020

2021 season

Main article: Dambulla Giants in 2021

2022 season

Main article: Dambulla Aura in 2022

2023 season

Main article: Dambulla Aura in 2023

2024 season

Main article: Dambulla Sixers in 2024

In 2024, the team was purchased by Imperial Sports Group, who renamed it Dambulla Thunders. ^[5] Tamim Rahman, a co-owner of Dambulla Thunders, a British national of Bangladeshi origin, was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport a day after the 2024 LPL player auction. The special investigating unit for preventing sports-related offences of the Ministry of Sports made the arrest. ^[6] Following the arrest, LPL terminated its contract with Dambulla Thunders with immediate effect. ^[7] The IPG Group, the organisers of LPL announced, the fifth edition of the league will continue as planned despite the events related to Dambulla Thunders. IPG further stated that the Dambulla franchise will participate in the league under new ownership. ^[8] Incidentally, Viranjith Thambugala, chairman of Aura Lanka, the previous owner of Dambulla franchise, was arrested by Sri Lanka Police over allegations of financial fraud on the same day. ^[9] At last, Dambulla franchise was bought by a Los Angeles based engineering consultant firm called Sequoia Consultants. ^[10]

To promote breast cancer awareness and encourage self-examination, Dambulla Sixers played their match against Galle Marvels on July 14 wearing pink jerseys with a pink ribbon. Inspired by successful campaigns in other cricket-playing nations, the initiative aims to significantly impact cancer awareness in Sri Lanka. ^[11] Galle Marvels also wore a special jersey that mixed pink with their usual neon green to support their program. ^[12]

Current squad

• Sources: ESPNcricinfo , ^[13] ThePapare.com, ^[14] Newswire.com ^[15]
• Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth	Batting style	Bowling style	Year signed	Salary (US$)	Notes
Batters
80	Mark Chapman	New Zealand	(1994-06-27) 27 June 1994 (age 31)	Left handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2024	Direct signing	Overseas
	Nuwanidu Fernando	Sri Lanka	(1999-10-13) 13 October 1999 (age 25)	Right handed	Right-arm off break	2024	34,000
17	Reeza Hendricks	South Africa	(1989-08-14) 14 August 1989 (age 35)	Right handed	Right-arm off break	2024	Direct signing	Overseas
77	Towhid Hridoy	Bangladesh	(2000-12-04) 4 December 2000 (age 24)	Right handed	Right-arm off break	2024	Direct signing	Overseas
18	Ibrahim Zadran	Afghanistan	(2001-12-12) 12 December 2001 (age 23)	Right handed	Right-arm medium-fast	2024	Direct signing	Overseas
Wicket-keepers
55	Kusal Janith Perera	Sri Lanka	(1990-08-17) 17 August 1990 (age 34)	Left handed	—	2024	Direct signing
	Ranesh Silva	Sri Lanka	(2002-01-24) 24 January 2002 (age 23)	Right handed	—	2024	5,000
	Lahiru Udara	Sri Lanka	(1993-11-27) 27 November 1993 (age 31)	Right handed	—	2024	14,000
All-rounders
4	Akila Dananjaya	Sri Lanka	(1993-10-04) 4 October 1993 (age 31)	Left handed	Right-arm off break, Right-arm leg break	2024	20,000
	Sonal Dinusha	Sri Lanka	(2000-12-04) 4 December 2000 (age 24)	Left handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2024	6,000
70	Danushka Gunathilaka	Sri Lanka	(1991-03-17) 17 March 1991 (age 34)	Left handed	Right-arm off break	2024	22,000
34	Dushan Hemantha	Sri Lanka	(1994-05-24) 24 May 1994 (age 31)	Right handed	Right-arm leg break	2023	Retained
	Sachitha Jayathilake	Sri Lanka	(1997-02-24) 24 February 1997 (age 28)	Right handed	Right-arm leg break	2024	Direct signing
	Lahiru Madushanka	Sri Lanka	(1992-09-12) 12 September 1992 (age 32)	Right handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2024	20,000
7	Mohammad Nabi	Afghanistan	(1985-01-01) 1 January 1985 (age 40)	Right handed	Right-arm off break	2024	Direct signing	Overseas; Captain
	Nimesh Vimukthi	Sri Lanka	(1997-05-07) 7 May 1997 (age 28)	Left handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2024	Direct signing
	Chamindu Wickramasinghe	Sri Lanka	(2002-09-06) 6 September 2002 (age 22)	Left handed	Right-arm medium	2024	Direct signing
Spin bowlers
92	Praveen Jayawickrama	Sri Lanka	(1998-09-30) 30 September 1998 (age 26)	Right handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2023	Retained
Pace bowlers
98	Dilshan Madushanka	Sri Lanka	(2000-09-18) 18 September 2000 (age 24)	Right handed	Left-arm fast-medium	2024	Direct signing
	Asanka Manoj	Sri Lanka	(1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 28)	Right handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2024	Direct signing
63	Nuwan Pradeep	Sri Lanka	(1986-10-19) 19 October 1986 (age 38)	Right handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2024	36,000
90	Mustafizur Rahman	Bangladesh	(1995-09-06) 6 September 1995 (age 29)	Left handed	Left-arm fast-medium	2024	Direct signing	Overseas
53	Nuwan Thushara	Sri Lanka	(1994-08-06) 6 August 1994 (age 30)	Right handed	Right-arm medium-fast	2024	Direct signing

Administration and support staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Rangana Herath
Mentor	Roshan Mahanama
Bowling coach	Chamila Gamage
Fielding coach	Ruwin Peiris
Batting coach	Thilina Kandamby

Captains

No.	Player	From	To	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Win%
1	Dasun Shanaka	2020	2022	24	9	13	0	2	37.50
2	Niroshan Dickwella	2021	2021	2	1	1	0	0	50.00
3	Sikandar Raza	2022	2022	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
4	Kusal Mendis	2023	2023	8	5	2	1	0	68.75
5	Dhananjaya de Silva	2023	2023	2	2	0	0	0	100.00
6	Mohammad Nabi	2024	present	8	3	4	1	0	37.50

As of 16 July 2024

Seasons

Year	League standing	Final standing
2020	2nd out of 5	Semi-finalists
2021	4th out of 5	Playoffs
2022	5th out of 5	Group stage
2023	1st out of 5	Runners up
2024	5th out of 5	Group stage

Statistics

Most runs

As of 19 August 2023

Runs	Player	Seasons
544	Dasun Shanaka	2020–2022
421	Niroshan Dickwella	2020–2021
301	Phil Salt	2021
239	Avishka Fernando	2023
227	Angelo Perera	2020

• Source: ESPNcricinfo ^[16]

Highest individual score

As of 8 July 2024

Runs	Player	Opposition	Venue	Date
102*	Kusal Perera	Jaffna Kings	Pallekele	3 July 2024
91*	Mark Chapman	Kandy Falcons		1 July 2024
87	Kusal Mendis	Colombo Strikers		5 August 2023
80	Shevon Daniel	Galle Gladiators	Colombo	17 December 2022
	Reeza Hendricks	Jaffna Kings	Dambulla	6 July 2024
	Kusal Perera	Colombo Strikers		7 July 2024

• Source: ESPNcricinfo ^[17]

Most wickets

As of 19 August 2023

Wickets	Player	Seasons
15	Imran Tahir	2021
13	Ramesh Mendis	2020–2022
12	Noor Ahmad	2022–2023
10	Dhananjaya de Silva	2023
10	Nuwan Pradeep	2021

• Source: ESPNcricinfo ^[18]

Team identity

Anthem

Year	Anthem	Artist(s)
2021		Tony T, Rohitha Rajapaksa, Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Tehani Imara, Neo Navy
2022	Uthura Dakuna Tharaga Dinana
2024	Awula Awula Abhimane

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

In the inaugural season, Life Bottled Water, Big Brother, Goa King's, Planet Hollywood and Viiking Ventures became as team sponsors ^[19] while Swarnavahini, Ran FM, E FM and Shree FM was the media partners. TigerExchange News became the team's main sponsor in the 2022 season. ^[20] In 2023 season, Babu88 Sports became as the principal sponsor of the Dambulla franchise. ^[21]

Year	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor (front)	Shirt sponsor (back)	Chest branding	Sleeve branding
2020		Planet Hollywood	Goa King's	Life Bottled Water	Big Brother
2021		Hamro PLC		—	i-view London, NLB, Lahore Country Club
2022		Tiger Exchange News		Aura Lanka	Tiger Exchange News, Aura Airlines
2023		Babu88 Sports	Kheloyar	Aura Airlines	Visit Sri Lanka
2024		MostPlay.news	Sequoia Consultants	Harriet	—

References

1. "SLC approves termination of Colombo Kings and Dambulla Viiking". CricBuzz. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
2. "Colombo Kings, Dambulla Viiking terminate contracts, withdraw from LPL 2021". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
3. "IPG announces new owner for Dambulla Giants". DailyFT. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
4. "Aura Lanka Group secures ownership of Dambulla Team in LPL". Daily News . 6 December 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
5. "Dambulla franchise rebranded as Dambulla Thunders for LPL 2024". ThePapare. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
6. Sanjeewa, Kanishka (22 May 2024). "Team Owner of Dambulla Thunders arrested for match-fixing charges". ThePapare. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
7. "LPL terminates contract with Dambulla Thunders following owner's arrest". ESPNcricinfo . 22 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
8. "2024 LPL to go ahead as scheduled; Dambulla franchise to receive new ownership". Ada Derana . 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
9. "Aura Lanka chairman Viranjith Thambugala arrested". Newswire. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
10. "LA-based civil engineering firm becomes new owner of Dambulla franchise". The Times of India . 5 June 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
11. "Dambulla Sixers Go Pink on July 14, 2024: A Cricket Match for Cancer Awareness and Hope". Sri Lanka Cricket . 9 June 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
12. "Galle Marvels joins Dambulla Sixers to raise awareness for Cancer". ThePapare. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
13. "Pathirana, Udana, Janat the most expensive picks in LPL 2024 auction". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 21 May 2024.
14. "LPL 2024 Auction: Full Squads of all 5 Teams". ThePapare.com. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
15. "LPL 2024 begins on July 1st : Final squads announced". Newswire.com. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
16. "Most career runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
17. "Highest individual score". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
18. ESPNcricinfo, Last Updated: 20 December 2021
19. "Dambulla Viiking". TobaccoUnmasked. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
20. "Tiger Exchange News are official sponsors of Dambulla Aura in the ongoing Lanka Premier League T20". Asian News International . 12 December 2022.
21. "Babu88Sports backs Dambulla Aura as title sponsors in LPL". Newswire. 29 July 2023.