Dasun Shanaka: The Evolution of a Six-Hitter

Dasun Shanaka is regarded as one of the best power hitters in Sri Lankan cricket. In his international career of more than 10 years, he has had the privilege to be Sri Lanka’s white ball captain. He even led the side in the 2023 ODI World Cup but following the team’s disappointing campaign at the event, he was relieved of his white ball captaincy duties. Due to his prolonged run of poor batting form he was dropped from the ODI team in February 2024 and T20I team in October 2024. He returned to the T20I side the following year impressing with his performances in ILT20 as a finisher. By the end of 2025, he had also regained his T20I captaincy having been named as a stand-in captain of the T20 side till the 2026 T20 WC. As a batter, Shanaka had an impressive T20 WC, where he managed to score 165 runs in 9 innings at a strike rate of 187. He hit 15 sixes in the competition and also had the best balls per six ratio amongst the batters who hit a minimum of 10 sixes in the competition.

Best balls/six at 2026 T20 World Cup

His six hitting skills came to the fore in their last game of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan. Sri Lanka were chasing a 213, Shanaka came to the crease when they were 101/5 after 12 overs. After his 61-run-partnership with Pavan Rathnayake ended, Sri Lanka still needed 51 off 15 deliveries.

They managed to score just 23 runs off the next 12 deliveries, and needed 28 off the last over.

With 24 needed off the final 5 balls, Shanaka needed to hit boundaries off nearly every delivery and Shanaka managed to hit 3 consecutive sixes in the next 3 deliveries, before failing to capitalize on 2 wide yorkers when they needed 6 off 2.

Although he couldn’t take Sri Lanka over the line that day, he showed a glimpse of his extraordinary six hitting ability. Building on that performance, he had a really good string of performances across MLC, LPL and CPL. He scored the fastest hundred in CPL history in just 39 balls. Across these three tournaments, he managed to score 660 runs in the 27 innings, average of 41.2 with a strike rate of 187. As a result of his consistent performances in T20s, he was included in the ODI side for the three match ODI series against England in September. Although, he wasn’t part of the playing XI in that series. He was part of the playing XI in the Tri-Nation ODI series a month later. Scored 28 off 18 in his comeback match against Pakistan. In the next game, Sri Lanka were chasing a mammoth total of 430, where Shanaka was promoted to No. 5 to up the ante since they got off to a great start. Shanaka responded with a high impact knock of 97(50), striking at nearly 200 and hitting eight sixes in that inning.

What exactly changed?

Despite his reputation as a match winner in T20 format, Shanaka had struggled to string together consistent match winning performances. But this year he had a good run in T20s, where he scored 1135 runs in 52 innings, at an average of 28.4, striking at 172.

Shanaka was only regarded as a lower order finisher, but this year he has even excelled batting up the order. In fact, his highest score of 121 this year came at 4, highlighting his improved game in middle overs. His improved batting in the middle overs directly comes down to his hitting ability against spin. He was never regarded as a good batter against spin in T20s but his strike rate against spinners this year has been an encouraging sign. Comparing his pitch map by strike rate against spin from 2021-25 and 2026 onwards reveals a clear shift in intent on full and short length deliveries.

This year his strike rate on full and short length deliveries were 169 and 172 compared to 83 and 109, suggesting he’s now better equipped to punish spinners when they miss their lengths. This improved hitting against spinners may also have strengthened his case for a return to the ODI side.

Unlocking His Six-Hitting Potential

Dasun Shanaka ranks eighth among the list of leading six hitters in T20s this year, hitting 92 sixes so far. Among batters with more than 1000 runs this year, Shanaka has the third best balls per six ratio.

Best Balls/Six – T20s in 2026 (min. 1000 runs)

The secret to his six hitting comes from his long handle grip and a smooth bat swing, which enables him to get underneath the ball easily.

This year he’s playing with a lot of intent against both pace and spin. His overall balls per six ratio has dropped from 14.4 during (2021-25 period) to 7.2 this year.

A significant improvement in balls per six has come against spinners, from 24.1 during (2021-25 period) to 9, which clearly suggests that he has unlocked his six hitting potential against spinners.