Hettimulla Appuhamilage Shashikala Dedunu Siriwardene (born 14 February 1985 in Colombo, Sri Lanka), known as Shashikala Siriwardene, is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who captained the Sri Lankan women's cricket team in WODIs. She is the only woman cricketer to take 100 wickets in WODIs for Sri Lanka, and thus the only female Sri Lankan to combine this with 1000+ runs. She is also the all-time leading wicket taker for Sri Lanka in WT20I with 77 scalps. She played for Sri Lanka internationally from 2003 to 2020 in a career spanning about 17 years.
She is also the longest serving member of the Sri Lankan women's cricket team and is also widely regarded as mother figure of Sri Lankan women's cricket. She has captained Sri Lanka in two Women's Cricket World Cup campaigns in 2009 and in 2013. She is a former student of President's College, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. She was also sidelined from international cricket during her late career due to injury concerns. In addition to her cricketing career, she has also worked as a human resource assistant for clothing firm Slimline. She is also attached with Sri Lanka Navy since 2011 and also represents Sri Lanka Navy in domestic circuit.
Early life
She started playing cricket at the age of nine at her residence in Kotikawatta where she was born and her father provided enormous support and guidance to take up the sport to the highest level. It was revealed she took interest in the sport after watching her brother playing street cricket with his friends in the streets. She was introduced to Palink Sports Club by her father's personal friend and played for the club until the age of 12.
She later joined the Slimline Sports Club in 2003. She joined the MAS Holdings in 2006 and served in the mercantile sector for two years. She also regularly featured in MAS Holdings team in annual mercantile cricket tournaments. She was graduated from the President's College, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte where she also pursued athletics as there was no women's cricket team attached with the educational institute.
Personal life
She married Sri Lankan first-class cricketer Namal Seneviratne in 2013 at the age of 28. Initially both Siriwardane and Seneviratne were regarded as friends as they became good friends when they met for the first time in 2006/07 Mercantile Cricket Tournament when Siriwardane was representing MAS Holdings while Seneviratne was the assistant coach at the Mercantile Cricket Association. She also indicated that she was thoughtful about retiring from international cricket in 2013 after her marriage but her husband convinced her to continue to play for Sri Lanka.
International career
Siriwardene made her ODI debut against West Indies at Kingstown, St. Vincent in March 2003 at the age of 18 after being selected to the national pool in 2002. She took 2–20 and also scored a brisk 29 in that match, which was ultimately won by the Sri Lankans. Her international debut came at a time when women's cricket in Sri Lanka was not under the control of Sri Lanka Cricket Board until 2006.
She was part of the Sri Lankan side which became runnersup to India in the inaugural edition of the Women's Asia Cup in 2004. Her best bowling figures of 4–11 was recorded against Pakistan in the 2005–06 Women's Asia Cup in Karachi. Other notable performances include her 4–34 also against Pakistan in the 2006–07 Women's Asia Cup.
She made her debut World Cup appearance during the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup. She was first appointed as the captain of the national team in December 2005. She made her captaincy debut at the age of 20 years in a group stage match against Pakistan as part of the 2005–06 Women's Asia Cup at Karachi which Sri Lanka eventually won by 14 runs. At the age of 20 years and 317 days, she became the youngest ever captain of Sri Lanka women's cricket team in WODIs as well as became the third youngest captain in Women's One Day Internationals.
She went onto captain the national team from 2005 to 2009 and then she pursued her second captaincy stint from 2010 to 2014. Under her captaincy, Sri Lanka emerged as runnersup in 2005–06 Women's Asia Cup, 2006 Women's Asia Cup, 2008 Women's Asia Cup to India in the finals.
