Meet Anushka Sanjeewani, Sri Lanka’s senior guardian behind stumps at Women’s ODI World Cup 2025

Much of the game unfolds at the crease, yet some of the sharpest cricket is played behind the stumps — a truth Mahendra Singh Dhoni has spent a career proving. Sri Lanka’s Anushka Sanjeewani belongs to the same school of craft.

Her swift movements, sharp judgments, and split-second decisions have made her one of the most dependable wicketkeepers of the island nation, and she is showing no signs of slowing down.

For someone so integral to the team today, Sanjeewani’s path to the national side was anything but conventional. Growing up in Hikkaduwa, Galle, she didn’t play cricket in school, and encountered the hard ball only at 19.

Unlike many of today’s players who progress through the established route of schools, districts, provinces, and emerging squads, Sanjeewani carved her own path.

“Before I joined Foundation of Goodness (FOG), I didn’t even know there was a national team,” she tells Sportstar.

Changing times

“The biggest challenge in the early days was money. After getting into the academy, things started falling into place,” she says.

The FOG, though not directly affiliated with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has played a pivotal role in nurturing aspiring cricketers from grassroots to the national level, shaping several future stars of the women’s team.

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“When you compare it (today’s system) to that time, I think schools everywhere in our country have a lot more budding cricketers. The school, club and district levels are now in place for identifying talents early,” she adds.

“The women’s game here has now started with the Under-19 cricket team, emerging squads and many scouts for development. So, it’s a big difference compared to what it was earlier.”

Sanjeewani’s perspective on progress is grounded in experience. After joining the Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club and playing there for three years, she was drafted directly into the national team in 2014.

Over the years, she has worked under two very different skippers — Shashikala Siriwardene and Chamari Athapaththu — and credits both for shaping her understanding of responsibility.

“Both captains have been guiding forces for youngsters, backing them and giving them the space to grow,” she says.

Steady growth

In over a decade of international cricket, her performance has particularly peaked since the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup cycle.

Her catching efficiency has hovered around 95 per cent, with an 87 per cent dismissal rate — among the best in the 50-over format — consistently ranking her as one of the most reliable ‘keepers in international cricket.

In the 2024 T20 Asia Cup, she didn’t miss a single chance, with two catches and a stumping to her name. She also anchored a tense semifinal against Pakistan with an unbeaten 24 off 22 balls — one of only two innings she got to bat — guiding eventual champion Sri Lanka to victory.

In the ongoing Women’s ODI World Cup, she snapped up England’s Alice Capsey with a lightning stumping.

The England batter only needed to lift her back foot for a fraction too long and Sanjeewani snapped the bails off before the crowd had time to blink. Wicketkeepers operate with a bird’s-eye view — tracking feet, reading angles — and she is among the sharpest in the women’s game.

“I always try to train harder than how the match will be. Every session, I try to have simulations that are much harder. So, when I am in different situations, it becomes much easier,” she says.

Balancing new roles

As vice-captain and one of the senior-most players in the setup, the 35-year-old sees her role extending beyond the game. “We’ve been winning games lately because we’ve had a good combination of experienced and young players.

“Youngsters, especially in the last two years, have performed so well — Harshitha (Samarawickrama), Kavisha (Dilhari), Vishmi (Gunaratne), Dewmi (Vihanga). They contribute a lot,” she says. “If they continue to get support and confidence, the team will only get stronger.”

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The Sri Lankan women’s team is entering a new chapter, one marked by balance and a string of promising performances in recent years.

However, questions about the future naturally linger, to which experienced players like Sanjeewani offer a quiet sense of assurance.

Published on Oct 23, 2025