Who is Eshan Malinga? 5 interesting facts about Sri Lankan pacer on debut for SRH in IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS

Fast bowler Eshan Malinga made his IPL debut for the SunRisers Hyderabad on April 12, 2025. The right-arm medium-fast bowler turned up against the Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Since his surname is Malinga, a few fans might have thought that he is the son of former Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga. However, it is not true. Eshan Malinga is not the son of Lasith Malinga.

Eshan started his IPL career by taking two wickets for SRH against PBKS. Here’s a list of five facts to know about the Orange Army’s newest overseas player.

#1 Full name of Eshan Malinga

Like several Sri Lankan cricketers, Eshan Malinga has a lengthy full name. As per ESPNCricinfo, Eshan’s full name is Kiribathgala Kankanamalage Eshan Malinga Dharmasena.

Eshan hails from the Ratnapura region of Sri Lanka. He graduated from Sivali Central College and has represented Jaffna and Ragama Cricket Club at the domestic level.

#2 Eshan Malinga was born in 2001

It is common to see players born after the year 2000 playing in the IPL these days. The long list has one addition, named Eshan from Sri Lanka.

Eshan was born on February 24, 2001. At the time of writing, the right-arm medium-fast bowler is 24 years and 68 days old.

#3 Eshan Malinga has played 5 ODI matches for Sri Lanka

Not many fans would know that Eshan has already made his international debut for Sri Lanka at the senior level. He received his maiden ODI cap ahead of a match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Wellington on January 5, 2025.

So far, Eshan has played five ODI matches, where he has bowled in four innings and scalped four wickets. He is yet to play a Test or a T20I for Sri Lanka.

#4 Eshan’s connection with the Royals

While Eshan made his IPL debut for the SunRisers Hyderabad, he has been associated with Rajasthan Royals’ sister franchise, Paarl Royals, in SA20. The 24-year-old pacer played three games for PR in SA20 2024/25, picking up four wickets.

Eshan has also played in the Lanka Premier League. He has only one LPL appearance to his name, which came for the Jaffna Kings in 2024.

#5 Eshan won a fast bowling contest in Sri Lanka in 2019

Eshan has become a talking point in the Indian cricket community after his IPL debut for the SunRisers Hyderabad against the Punjab Kings. However, back in 2019, he grabbed the attention of the Sri Lankan cricket fans by winning a nationwide fast-bowling contest.

The right-arm pacer clocked 141 kmph on the speedometer, which helped him win the grand tournament. While Eshan’s speed has reduced a bit now, he is still a quality pacer who is getting better and better every day.

If SRH back him for IPL 2025, Eshan can form a fantastic fast-bowling partnership with the trio of Harshal Patel, Pat Cummins, and Mohammed Shami. It will be interesting to see how Eshan performs in the next games.

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Vinay has been working as a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda since 2018. A veteran writer, he has a total previous work experience of 8 years working for the likes of Swag Cricket and Fambeat, and believes in thoroughly verifying each and every piece of information before writing any article. His meticulous methods have led him to amass a significant readership of close to 30 million at Sportskeeda, along with winning several awards such as Machine Writer, Top Earning Affiliate, and Perfectionist Writer in his Sportskeeda journey so far.

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Edited by Aditya Singh