Sanath Jayasuriya

Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (සනත් ජයසූරිය, சனத் ஜெயசூர்யா; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever to play the game.

Servatius Cricket Encounter in 1988.

Jayasuriya was picked as the 'Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' in the Outstation Segment in 1988.

He also received the awards for the 'Best Batsman' and 'Best All-rounder' in the Outstation Segment at the Observer School Cricket Awards ceremony in the same year.

Jayasuriya represented Sri Lanka in the inaugural ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup which was held in Australia in 1988 and was subsequently selected for a tour in Pakistan a few months later with the Sri Lanka 'B' team, where he made two unbeaten double centuries.

Shortly afterward he was drafted into the national side for the tour to Australia in 1989–90.

He made his One Day International debut against Australia at Melbourne on Boxing Day of 1989 and his Test debut against New Zealand at Hamilton in February 1991.

A left arm opening batsman, an orthodox spinner and a dynamic fielder, Jayasuriya together with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana is credited for having revolutionized one-day international cricket with his explosive batting in the mid-1990s, which initiated the hard-hitting modern-day batting strategy of all nations.

He was a key member of the Sri Lankan team that won 1996 Cricket World Cup.

He was named the Most Valuable Player of 1996 Cricket World Cup and Wisden Cricketers' Almanack broke an age-old tradition by naming him one of Five Cricketers' of the Year 1997 despite not playing the previous season in England.

He was also a key member of the team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup and was part of the team that made the finals of 2007 Cricket World Cup and 2009 ICC World Twenty20.

Along with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya revolutionized One Day International batting with his aggressive tactics during the 1996 Cricket World Cup, a strategy they first tried on the preceding tour of Australia.

The tactic used was to take advantage of the early fielding restrictions by smashing the opening bowlers to all parts of the cricket ground, particularly by lofting their deliveries over the mandatory infielders, rather than the established tactic of building up momentum gradually.

This was a novel but potentially match-winning tactic at that time, and Sri Lanka, who had previously never made it out of the preliminary rounds, went on to win the World Cup without a single defeat.

Their new gameplan is now the standard opening batting strategy in limited-overs cricket for the modern era.

Glenn McGrath cited Jayasuriya in his XI of toughest batsmen, noting "it is always a massive compliment to someone to say they changed the game, and his storming innings in the 1996 World Cup changed everyone's thinking about how to start innings."

Jayasuriya is known for both cuts and pulls along with his trademark shot, a lofted cut over point.

He was one of the key players in Sri Lanka's victory in the 1996 Cricket World Cup, where he was adjudged Man of the Tournament in recognition of his all-around contributions.

His philosophy towards batting is summarized by an all-aggression approach and over the years he has dominated almost every one-day bowling combination that he has faced at one stage or another.

Jayasuriya was also the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003.

He is affectionately known as the Master Blaster (making him the third batting legend of cricket's history to receive the Master Blaster nickname, after Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies and Sachin Tendulkar of India).

Under his captaincy Sri Lanka become joint champions along with India in the 2002 Champions Trophy.

Considered one of the greatest attacking batsmen of all time, Jayasuriya is well known for his powerful striking and match-winning all-round performances in all formats of the game.

Jayasuriya was an all-rounder, who had an international cricket career that spread over two decades.

He is the only player to score over 10,000 runs and capture more than 300 wickets in One Day International cricket and is also regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the history of limited-overs cricket.

Jayasuriya created many world records during his career.

He retired from Test cricket in December 2007 and from limited-overs cricket in June 2011.

Jayasuriya ran for public office at the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to the parliament from his native Matara District.

He topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes.

He served as the deputy minister of Postal services in the former UPFA government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, and later as the Deputy Minister of Local Government & Rural Development under president Maithripala Sirisena.

On 28 January 2013, Sri Lanka Cricket appointed him as the chairman of the cricket selection committee.

Sri Lanka won the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2014, during his tenure as the chief selector.

Jayasuriya did not contest for the 2015 Sri Lankan general election, though he won most votes from Matara district under UPFA in the 2010 Sri Lankan general election.

He is currently not active in politics.

Sanath Jayasuriya was born in the Southern Sri Lankan city of Matara, to the family of Dunstan and Breeda Jayasuriya.

He has an elder brother, Chandana Jayasuriya.

He was educated at St. Servatius' College, Matara, where his cricketing talents were nourished by his school principal, G.L. Galappathy, and cricket coach, Lionel Wagasinghe.

He excelled in cricket while at St. Servatius College, Matara and captained the college cricket team at the annual St. Thomas'–St.

This is because of his ability to make huge match-winning contributions at a rapid pace once he gets in, he holds the record for the second-highest number of one day centuries and has scored the 4th most 150+ scores (4 scores) jointly with Chris Gayle and Hashim Amla.

Only Rohit Sharma, David Warner and Sachin Tendulkar have more 150+ scores than him, (Rohit Sharma has the most 150+ scores at 7 ).