Mahela Jayawardene turn's 46, look at career accomplishment of Sri Lankan legend
May 27, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 27 : One of the greatest cricketers ever played for Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene turned 47 on Saturday. He was a pillar for Sri Lankan cricket, providing them many memorable moments during the most glorious time of their history.
A technically sound batter, he will always be remembered for his remarkable performance in the World Cup 2011 final against India at the Wankhede Stadium. He had scored a brilliant century in the final but unfortunately ended up on the losing side.
Jayawardene made his debut in the Test match against India in 1997 in Colombo. He started his career with an excellent half-century in the first innings.
The former cricketer racked up historic numbers throughout his career but he was most famous for his picture-perfect cover drive and square cuts.
Being a textbook player, the Sri Lankan player reinvented himself to rule white-ball cricket as well. He used to play a lot of scoop shots which become a trademark for this batting.
Jayawardene had a successful test career as he is counted as one of the greatest test cricketers in cricket history. In his presence, Sri Lanka saw the brightest time.
Jayawardene was the first Sri Lankan batter to score 10,000 runs in Test. He has scored 11, 814 runs in his test career with an average of 49.84. He is the ninth-highest run-getter in red-ball cricket. He is the second-highest run-getter for Lankan Lions in Tests.
He has also scored 34 centuries and 50 fifties in tests, adding himself to the list of legends; Younis Khan, Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara who have scored more than 30 centuries in the format. He also has seven double hundred in the test, placed in fifth position with the most double-centuries in the format. He also has a triple century in the longer format, with a best score of 374.
He has 2,921 runs in 27 Tests with nine centuries and 20 fifties at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, the most by any player at a single venue in Test history.
The iconic duo, Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have a unique and unbeatable record of forming the biggest partnership in Tests, of 624 runs against South Africa.
The star batter has a legacy in the ODI format, in his presence, Sri Lankan saw their glory days in the white-ball cricket. Jayawardene has played 448 ODI matches, the second-highest by any player and scored 12,650 runs. He is the sixth-highest run-getter in ODI cricket and third-highest among Sri Lankan players.
In 55 T20Is, Jayawardene scored 1,493 runs at an average of 31.76, with a century and nine fifties.
He was also part of the winning team of the T20 World Cup 2014. When he was in the team, Sri Lanka reached the World Cup final five times (combining fifty-over and T20 World Cups) and won once in 2014.
