Born in Berbice, Guyana, Sunil Dhaniram was a contemporary of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in Guyanese domestic cricket and also played alongside the likes of Roger Harper and Carl Hooper. He played as a lower middle-order batsman for Guyana between 1992-93 and 1994-95 without ever making any real impression, scoring 270 runs at 19.28 in 12 first-class matches with a best of 57. He was more prolific in the Guyanese domestic competition, with a top score of 152* for Berbice against Demerara.

He subsequently moved to Canada and was first picked for them in 2004 as an allrounder, adding slow left-arm spin to his batting. He score a two-ball duck on his first-class debut for Canada - against USA - but recovered to record 65* in the second innings. In one-day matches his bowling has become increasingly useful, and he took 4 for 10 against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cricket League. He was named captain for Canada's Intercontinental Cup matches against Kenya and Namibia in October 2007, when Ashish Bagai was ruled out because of work commitments. He was also part of Canada's squad for the World Cup that year and although he, like the rest of the team, struggled in the competition, he did pick his caught-and-bowled dismissal of Kevin Pietersen as a particular career highlight. To cap a productive year, Dhaniram also cracked his maiden first-class century, reaching 141* as Canada beat UAE by an innings and 228 runs at King City.

Dhaniram enjoyed a prolific year with the ball in 2008, picking up his third five-wicket haul for Canada in a limited-overs match against Bermuda and picking up 26 wickets across all formats - though he struggled to be incisive against major opposition. Nevertheless, he remained a consistent allround performer for Canada and in 2009 was one of six players to receive central contracts. He is currently Canada's second highest run-scorer in one-day internationals behind Ashish Bagai, and has identified the 2011 World Cup as his final engagement for the national side. If he enjoys a decent run at the event, he could well become the second Canadian player to pass 1,000 ODI runs, and with 41 ODI wickets to his name he is also likely to finish his career as Canada's leading wicket-taker in the format.

Sunil's older brother Sudesh, alongside whom he played for Guyana, joined him in emigrating but ended up in the United States. With both brothers representing their adopted national sides, they met once again on the cricket field as opponents when Canada played USA in an ICC World Cricket League Americas Region Division One game at the Central Broward ground in Florida in November 2008. Though neither brother contributed much to the result, Sudesh bagged bragging rights when his Americans prevailed by 81 runs.
Liam Brickhill August 2010