The Tillakaratne name is familiar to followers of Sri Lankan cricket. Hashan Tillakaratne and Tillakaratne Dilshan both spent long periods around the national team, and Dilshan in particular is remembered for his attacking batting and his own way of changing a match.
Now, Limansa Tillakaratne is trying to make progress with that surname on her shirt. The 17-year-old, daughter of Dilshan, is part of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 women’s squad currently playing in India. The tour includes three T20 matches and three One-Day fixtures, and is being used as preparation for the U-19 Women’s World Cup, which Bangladesh and Nepal are scheduled to co-host in early 2027.
A difficult start in Chennai
Limansa’s early matches in Chennai have shown how demanding that step can be. She is a leg-spinner and has also batted in the middle order, but the opening phase of the tour has been tough. With the ball, she proved expensive, and with the bat she recorded three ducks.
For Sri Lanka’s Under-19 side, the results have also reflected the gap it is trying to close. India won the first match by 93 runs. Sri Lanka responded with a better fielding performance in the second game and reduced the losing margin to 11 runs. In that match, Limansa made an important contribution by bowling Ira Jadhav, who was described as a dangerous batter.
India then won the third fixture by seven wickets to take the series. Sri Lanka’s batting problems remained a concern, and the team could not put enough pressure on India across the three matches.
Carrying a known surname
Limansa’s career is being watched partly because of her family background. That attention can be useful, but it also brings a simple challenge: performances still have to be earned at her own level. At 17, she is still learning her game in international age-group cricket, where a poor week can stand out quickly.
The current tour is important for that reason. These matches are not only about immediate results. For players aiming at the 2027 U-19 Women’s World Cup, they offer a clearer view of where their skills stand against strong opposition. For Limansa, that means working through both parts of her role: giving her captain reliable overs as a leg-spinner and finding a way to contribute with the bat after a difficult run.
Dilshan follows from Hyderabad
While Limansa plays in Chennai, her father is following her progress from Hyderabad, around 600 kilometres away. Tillakaratne Dilshan is currently associated with Khammam Aces in the inaugural edition of the TG20 league.
The father-daughter cricket journey has often had distance built into it. After Dilshan’s retirement in 2016, the family moved to Australia. Limansa began playing cricket locally there, initially for fun. She has said that when she started, her father was not in Australia and was likely in India. At that stage, she was bowling without much understanding of the game and noticed only that the ball was looping.
That detail says something about where her cricket has come from. She did not begin as a polished age-group prospect. Her current role with Sri Lanka’s Under-19 side has come after a period of learning, and the India tour is another part of that process.
Limansa’s surname will keep drawing attention, but the next stage will depend on the quieter work of a young player: more overs, more innings, and better handling of difficult spells. For now, Sri Lanka have a teenager with a famous cricket name and a clear task ahead as the team builds towards the U-19 Women’s World Cup.
Source: The Hindu Cricket.