Early years Hasaranga was named to Sri Lanka's
One Day International (ODI) squad for their series
against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe on 2 July 2017. In his debut match, he took the final three Zimbabwe wickets in the innings in three consecutive deliveries, becoming the youngest bowler to take a
hat-trick on debut in an ODI. He was also the third debutant in ODI history to claim a hat-trick after Bangladeshi
Taijul Islam and South African
Kagiso Rabada. He also became the first
leg-spinner to take a hat-trick in ODI history. In May 2018, Hasaranga was one of 33 cricketers to be awarded a national contract by
Sri Lanka Cricket ahead of the 2018–19 season. In August 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's
Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series
against New Zealand. He made his T20I debut for Sri Lanka, against
New Zealand, on 1 September 2019. In September 2019, Hasaranga was included as the only specialist spinner for the
Pakistan series in Pakistan, where many major players withdrew from the team due to security concerns. During the T20I series, he took eight wickets, where Sri Lanka dominated against Pakistan. Sri Lanka won all three matches and whitewashed Pakistan for the first time. It was Sri Lanka's first ever series win against Pakistan in a T20I bilateral series. Sri Lanka went on to win the final T20I match by 13 runs, winning the series 3–0. It was the first time in a three-match T20I series that Sri Lanka had won 3–0, and the first time that Pakistan had been whitewashed. Due to his match winning all round performances, Hasaranga was adjudged as man of the match in the third T20I as well as was adjudged player of the series. During the ODI series
against West Indies in March 2020, Hasaranga showed his all round talent where he took crucial wickets at the right time and scored match winning knocks. In the first ODI, he scored match winning unbeaten 42 runs to seal the game for Sri Lanka by 1 wicket. He also won the man off the match award. In second and third ODI, he delivered the most economical spells for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won the series 3–0 with Hasaranga winning player of the series award. In December 2020, Hasaranga was named in Sri Lanka's
Test squad for their series
against South Africa. He made his Test debut for Sri Lanka, against
South Africa, on 26 December 2020. He took four wickets in the match for 171 runs. In the second innings, Hasaranga scored his maiden Test fifty. On 14 March 2021, in the third ODI
against the West Indies, Hasaranga scored his maiden ODI half century. He along with
Ashen Bandara put on an unbeaten 123 run seventh wicket stand in the match. He also registered the highest individual score for Sri Lanka batting at number 8 or lower with scoring unbeaten 80 off just 60 deliveries breaking the previous record held by
Nuwan Kulasekara.
Rising through ranks After many economical bowling spells in the T20I series against
England and
India, Hasaranga achieved second rank in the
ICC T20I rankings in July 2021. In July 2021, during the series
against India, Hasaranga took four wickets in the third T20I match. He also broke the record of
Imran Tahir for registering the best ever bowling spell in a T20I match on birthday with an economic spell of 4/9 in four overs. He won the player of the match award and was also named the player of the series. In September 2021, Hasaranga was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. On 30 October 2021, in Sri Lanka's match against
South Africa, Hasaranga became the first bowler for Sri Lanka to
take a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup match. On 1 November 2021, in the match against
England, Hasaranga took his 50th wicket in T20I cricket. He ended the 2021 ICC World Twenty20 as the leading wicket taker of the tournament and broke the record of
Ajantha Mendis for having taken the most wickets in a single edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup after finishing the 2021 edition with 16 wickets. Out of the 16 scalps, 10 of them came in the Super 12 stage of the tournament. In November 2021, he achieved his career best ranking in ICC T20I bowling rankings when he topped the rankings for the first time in his career. He became only the second Sri Lankan after Ajantha Mendis to become no 1 bowler in ICC T20I rankings. In the same month, he also reached career best third rank in ICC T20I rankings for all-rounders. He also equalled with South Africa's
Tabraiz Shamsi for taking most number of wickets in T20Is in a single calendar year. Both of them took the same tally of 36 dismissals in 2021 to end up as joint-leading wicket-takers across all T20I matches in 2021. In the annual
ICC Awards in January 2022, Wanindu Hasaranga was included in the
ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year, and the
ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year. During the
2022 Asia Cup, Hasaranga made match-winning all-round performances against Bangladesh and Pakistan. Against Pakistan in the Super 4 match, Hasaranga took 3 wickets for 21 runs and Pakistan finally bowled out for 121 runs. Sri Lanka won the match by 5 wickets and Hasaranga won the man of the match award as well. In the final against Pakistan, Sri Lanka batted first and restricted to 58/5 in 8.5 overs. However, along with
Bhanuka Rajapaksa, he made a match-winning partnership of 58-runs, where Sri Lanka posted 170 runs. Sri Lanka eventually won the match and became sixth time Asia Cup champions. Hasaranga was adjudged player of the tournament for his all-round performances. Due to his performances with 36 runs and 3/27, Hasaranga became only the second player after West Indian
Carlos Brathwaite, to score 30-plus runs and three-plus wickets in a men's T20I knockout between two Full-Member nations. The annual
ICC Awards in January 2023 saw Hasaranga get included in the 2022 T20i Team for the second consecutive year. In June 2023, Hasaranga was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. In the opening match, Hasaranga took 6 wickets against UAE picking up his first 6-wicket haul in ODIs.
Against Afghanistan in February 2024 in second T20I, Hasaranga became the second fastest bowler after Afghan
Rashid Khan to claim 100 T20 international wickets. In May 2024, he was named the captain in Sri Lanka’s squad for the
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. ==Notes==