Lasith Embuldeniya

Sri Lanka, left-arm orthodox spinner
Embuldeniya hails from the flight-and-guile school of Sri Lankan spin bowling (big turn and mystery spin being the other institutions), and over the past year has become Sri Lanka’s first-choice Test option. Accurate and uncomplicated, he has an ambling approach to the crease, but owing to his height, he is capable of getting significant bounce even on low South Asian pitches. His five-wicket haul on debut set up that famous win in Durban last year. – Andrew Fidel Fernando

My hero: “Rangana Herath. Apart from being an outstanding left-arm spinner, character-wise, he is one of the best. He also has an amazing story because although he was overlooked for so long and kept getting dropped from the team, he never gave up and had that determination to come back late in his career and become a great player.”

Biggest ambition: “To take five wickets against every Test nation [which Herath has accomplished]. In the shorter term, it’s to try and fill the role that Rangana aiya performed in the Test team, as quickly as possible.”

Best match:” My debut in Durban had everything. It was a thriller. It was emotional. We won. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Expert eye: “The most important thing about Lasith is that he has all the fundamentals a left-arm spinner needs, like accuracy, and he also has something I never had, which is height. In addition to that he learns very quickly, and is keen to work hard.” – Rangana Herath, former Sri Lanka spinner