Matheesha Pathirana became a household name after Chennai Super Kings picked him in the Indian Premier League 2022. His bowling action resembled Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga and he more or less did the same job for CSK. MS Dhoni advised him not to play too much of red-ball cricket and to focus on the shorter versions of the game. Now, Pathirana has fetched the highest bid in the history Lanka Premier League 2024.
The right arm pacer was signed by Colombo Strikers for a whopping USD 120,000. Pathirana was released by the Strikers ahead of the previous season and he ended up getting back to his old franchise with a hefty price tag. Talking about his IPL 2024 performance, he picked 13 wickets with an economy rate of 7.68. He left the team midway as he pulled up a hamstring injury.
The LPL 2024 auctions saw a total of 420 cricketers registering their names for the auction. While Pathirana scored the big bounty, Isuri Udana was the second highest-paid player with a USD 100,000 contract with Galle Marvels. Out of 420 players who entered the auction, 154 were Sri Lankan cricketers.
List of players sold in LPL 2024 auction
Ashen Bandara (B-Love Kandy): USD 28,000
Dinesh Chandimal (B-Love Kandy): USD 40,000
Rilee Rossouw (Jaffna Kings): USD 55,000
Janith Liyanage (Galle Marvels): USD 36,000
Dwaine Pretorius (Galle Marvels): USD 30,000
Fabian Allen (Jaffna Kings): USD 32,000
Dhananjaya de Silva (Dambulla Thunders): USD 50,000
Sahan Arachchige (Galle Marvels): USD 20,000
Chamika Gunasekara (Colombo Strikers): USD 10,000
Dunith Wellalage (Colombo Strikers): USD 50,000
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Colombo Strikers): USD 50,000
Lahiru Udara (Dambulla Thunders): USD 14,000
Taskin Ahmed (Colombo Strikers): USD 50,000
Lahiru Kumara (Galle Marvels): USD 30,000
Pramod Madushan (Jaffna Kings): USD 20,000
Prabath Jayasuriya (Galle Marvels): USD 10,000
Akila Dananjaya (Dambulla Thunders): USD 20,000
Sean Williams (Galle Marvels): USD 20,000
Dasun Shanaka (B-Love Kandy): USD 85,000
Angelo Perera (Colombo Strikers): USD 20,000
Ramesh Mendis (B-Love Kandy): USD 10,000
Shevon Daniel (Colombo Strikers): USD 15,000
Danushka Gunathilaka (Dambulla Thunders): USD 22,000
Dimuth Karunaratne (B-Love Kandy): USD 10,000
Iftikhar Ahmed (Dambulla Thunders): USD 50,000
Nuwanidu Fernando (Dambulla Thunders): USD 34,000
Jason Behrendorff (Jaffna Kings): USD 50,000
Binura Fernando (Colombo Strikers): USD 55,000
Nuwan Pradeep (Dambulla Thunders): USD 36,000
Garuka Sanketh (Colombo Strikers): USD 20,000
Asitha Fernando (Jaffna Kings): USD 40,000
Zahoor Khan (Galle Marvels): USD 10,000
Malsha Tharupathi (Galle Marvels): USD 25,000
Vishad Randika (Jaffna Kings): USD 5,000
Shehan Fernando (Colombo Strikers): USD 5,000
Ranesh Silva (Dambulla Thunders): USD 5,000
Sadisha Rajapaksa (Galle Marvels): USD 5,000
Kavin Bandara (Colombo Strikers): USD 5,000
Mohomed Shiraz (Galle Marvels): USD 10,000
Mohammed Hasnain (B-Love Kandy): USD 30,000
Lahiru Samarakoon (Jaffna Kings): USD 13,000
Isitha Wijesundara (Colombo Strikers): USD 5,000
Eshan Malinga (Jaffnaa Kings): USD 5,000
Isuru Udana (Galle Marvels): USD 100,000
Mohammed Waseem (Colombo Strikers): USD 20,000
Pawan Rathnayake (B-Love Kandy): USD 5,000
Alex Ross (Jaffna Kings): USD 20,000
Ahan Wickramasinghe (Jaffna Kings): USD 5,000
Hazratullah Zazai (Dambulla Thunders): USD 50,000
Chamath Gomez (B-Love Kandy): USD 5,000
Dhananjaya Lakshan (Galle Marvels): USD 10,000
Chaturanga Silva (B-Love Kandy): USD 30,000
Karim Janat (Dambulla Thunders): USD 80,000
Kavindu Pathirathne (B-Love Kandy): USD 5,000
Lakshan Sandakan (B-Love Kandy): USD 20,000
Wanuja Sahan (Jaffna Kings): USD 10,000
Pasindu Sooriyabandara (Galle Marvels): USD 5,000
Sammu Ashan (B-Love Kandy): USD 5,000
Asela Gunaratne (Dambulla Thunders): USD 10,000
Lahiru Madushanka (Dambulla Thunders): USD 20,000
Rusanda Gamage (Dambulla Thunders): USD 5,000
Azam Khan (B-Love Kandy): USD 50,000
Kavindu Nadeeshan (Galle Marvels): USD 5,000
Mithun Jayawickrama (Dambulla Thunders): USD 5,000
Ayana Siriwardhana (Dambulla Thunders): USD 5,000
Salman Ali Agha (B-Love Kandy): USD 10,000
Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Galle Marvels): USD 50,000
Mohammed Ali (B-Love Kandy): USD 10,000
Murvin Abinash (Jaffna Kings): USD 5,000
Chamindu Wijesinghe (Galle Marvels): USD 5,000
Jeffrey Vandersay (Galle Marvels): USD 30,000
Arul Pragasam (Jaffna Kings): USD 5,000
Sonal Dinusha (Dambulla Thunders): USD 6,000
Pathum Nissanka (Jaffna Kings): USD 40,000
Kasun Rajitha (B-Love Kandy): USD 26,000
Nishan Madushka (Jaffna Kings): USD 10,000
Haider Ali (Dambulla Thunders): USD 25,000
Allah Ghazanfar (Colombo Strikers): USD 10,000
Santhush Gunathilaka (Dambulla Thunders): USD 6,000
Theesan Vithushan (Jaffna Kings): USD 5,000
Yuri Koththigoda (Galle Marvels): USD 5,000
Nisala Tharaka (Jaffna Kings): USD 5,000
Matheesha Pathirana (Colombo Strikers): USD 120,000