5 players who made their international debuts with Ashish Nehra but faded away

#4 Avishka Gunawardene (Sri Lanka)

Gunawardene could not keep his place in what was a strong Sri Lankan batting lineup

After securing a draw against India in the preceding match, another stalemate against the much more dangerous Pakistan team was enough to propel Sri Lanka into the final of the 1999 Asian Test Championship. On a surprisingly balanced surface at Lahore, the hosts won the toss and opted to make first use of the pitch.

The visitors made as many as six changes to the team that had played in the previous game against India. While Eric Upashantha was one of the four casualties in the bowling department, the unavailability of the experienced duo of Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga offered an opportunity for the uncapped Avishka Gunawardene.

Gunawardene opened the innings alongside Russell Arnold and made his intentions pretty clear right from the outset. A couple of blazing shots from the right-hander played a key part in helping Sri Lanka earn a draw.

However, he struggled to cope with the magic of Wasim Akram in the final, and soon found himself on the sidelines in Tests. Even though he played four more Tests, the dynamic batsman was rapidly pigeon-holed as an ODI specialist. In all, he played 61 ODIs and only six Tests.