Who is Sonal Dinusha? Is the star who stunned India Sri Lanka's next big thing?

Sonal Dinusha has suddenly become one of the biggest talking points in world cricket after what he did against India.

The 25 year old Sri Lankan all rounder had a series to remember. Four innings, three hundreds and a fifty. More importantly, he stood up when his team desperately needed him.

Dinusha scored his maiden Test hundred with 100 in Galle. But he wasn't done there.

In the second Test in Colombo, he scored 103 in the first innings before producing an unbeaten 133 in the second. Sri Lanka had been asked to follow on and were staring at defeat, but Dinusha stayed there until the end and helped them pull off a remarkable draw.

Sonal Dinusha's numbers against India

• Innings: 4

• Runs: 420

• Balls faced: 722

• Highest score: 133*

• Hundreds: 3

• Fifties: 1

His twin hundreds in Colombo also put him in some serious company. Dinusha became only the eighth Sri Lankan to score hundreds in both innings of a Test and the 12th player to do it against India.

Who is Sonal Dinusha?

Born in Colombo in December 2000, Dinusha is a left handed batter who also bowls slow left arm orthodox spin.

But getting here wasn't easy.

Dinusha reportedly had financial struggles growing up, but he kept working on his game with his longtime coach Dulshan, who has been with him for around 13 years.

And there is one story from his coach that probably tells you everything about Dinusha.

He would sometimes spend two to three hours practising just one shot, the sweep.

That kind of patience has been part of his journey. Dinusha started out primarily as a left arm spinner before working on his batting and developing into a proper all rounder.

There was no overnight rise either.

From Sri Lanka Under 19s to Sri Lanka A and then Test cricket, he kept grinding until his opportunity came.

Dinusha eventually made his Test debut against Bangladesh in June 2025. By then, he had already spent years putting together strong numbers in domestic cricket.

And when his big opportunity against India arrived, he grabbed it with both hands.

Three hundreds and 420 runs in four innings later, a lot more people in world cricket now know the name Sonal Dinusha. Is he the next big thing to come out from Sri Lanka? Only time will tell