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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is well known for his powerful striking and match-winning all-round performances in One Day International cricket. Jayasuriya is credited for having revolutionized One Day International cricket with his explosive batting with Romesh Kaluwitharana in 1996, which initiated the hard-hitting modern-day batting strategy of all nations.

Jayasuriya was an all-rounder, who had an international cricket career that spread over two decades, Jayasuriya is the only player to score over 12,000 runs and capture more than 300 wickets in One Day International cricket.

He retired from Test cricket in 2007 and from limited overs cricket in 2011. In 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. Here are the top 10 amazing facts about Sanath Jayasuriya.

1. Sanath Jayasuriya  Early Cricketing Life

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He received his education at St. Servatius鈥� College, Matara, where his cricketing talents were honed by his school principal, G.L. Galappathy and cricket coach, Lionel Wagasinghe. He excelled in cricket while at the school and captained the college cricket team at the annual St. Thomas鈥欌�揝t. Servatius Cricket Encounter in 1988.

Jayasuriya was picked as the 鈥極bserver Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year鈥� in the Outstation Segment in 1988. He also received the awards for the 鈥楤est Batsman鈥� and 鈥楤est All-rounder鈥� in the Outstation Segment at the Observer School Cricket Awards ceremony in the same year.

2.  Jayasuriya was Part of the inaugural Under-19 World Cup

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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 Sri Lanka 鈥楤鈥� team, where he made two unbeaten double centuries. Shortly afterwards he was drafted into the national side for the tour to Australia in 1989鈥�90.

3. Jayasuriya is  Sri Lanka鈥檚 World Cup Winning Hero

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Jayasuriya was one of the key players in Sri Lanka鈥檚 victory in the 1996 Cricket World Cup where he was adjudged Man of the Tournament in recognition of his all-around contributions. He scored 221 runs and took 6 wickets in 6 matches including two half-centuries (one of which came against India in the semi-final).

His tally was quite mediocre statistically speaking but his overall impact on the opposition was perhaps the greatest. The dashing left-hander cannot forget the tournament, as it was his first trip out of Sri Lanka.

The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup is an international cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and contested by national under-19 teams. First contested in 1988, as the Youth World Cup, it was not staged again until 1998. Since then, the World Cup has been held as a biennial event, organised by the ICC.

4. Sanath Jayasuriya was appointed  UN Goodwill Ambassador

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He is also the first cricketer to be appointed as a UN Goodwill Ambassador (by UNAIDS, Geneva) for his commitment to the prevention of HIV/AIDS among young people in Sri Lanka. UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador urges people to test for HIV and to seek treatment.

Between 2016 and 2020, there has been a 14% increase in the number of those people living with HIV who know their status, a 20% increase in the number accessing treatment, and a 22% increase in people living with HIV who have successfully reduced their viral load to undetectable levels.

5. Jayasuriya’s 19-year ODI Record

He holds the record for the second fastest fifty in ODIs which he scored off just 17 balls against Pakistan in 1996.  Jayasuriya鈥檚 record stayed about 19 years before De Villiers surpassed it on 18 January 2015.

A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited-overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup, generally held every four years, is played in this format.

The international one-day game is a late twentieth-century development. The first ODI was played on 5 January 1971 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

6. Jayasuriya is Also a Successful Politician

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He entered politics in February 2010 as a candidate for Matara District. His party is the United People鈥檚 Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of president Mahinda Rajapaksa. He secured the most preferential votes from the Matara District by obtaining 74,352 votes.

On 10 June 2015, Jayasuriya was appointed as Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development. He was in office until the Parliament dissolved on 26 June 2015. He was the first cricketer to play as a politician.

7. Highest individual score by a Sri Lankan player (ODIs)

Sanath Jayasuriya revolutionized Sri Lanka’s ODI batting with his aggressive batting. During the 1996 World Cup Jayasuriya and his teammates took advantage of initial overs of the powerplay, which helped the team. It soon started to produce results for Sri Lanka as they produced match-winning results.

Sanath Jayasuriya still holds the record of accumulating the highest individual score (ODI) by a Sri Lankan player. He hammered a 161-ball 189 against India in the 2000 Champions Trophy final at Sharjah. His blazing knock was studded with 21 fours and 4 sixes. Years after his retirement, the historic feat remained unchallenged. 

8.  From Pitch to Dance Floor

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Interestingly, Jayasuriya participated in Indian dance reality show 鈥淛halak Dikhlajaa鈥�. He was out on duck 34 times, out of which, 10 are Golden Ducks. The dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa premiered in 2012. International cricket star Sanath Jayasuriya performed on a different pitch. He took to the dance floor and grooved to the popular track “Tama tama loge”.

Jayasuriya may not have been the best dancer from the total bouquet of 12 celebrities participating in the show, but he received the maximum cheers from the media during the glitzy press conference of the show held here Thursday night. He was even seen matching steps with dancing diva Madhuri Dixit, one of the judges on the show.

9.   Jayasuriya The Six-Hitter

He is third after Shahid Afridi and Chris Gayle, with the most number of ODI sixes in his career. A pioneer of modern batting, Sanath Jayasuriya was one of the men responsible for changing the way ODI cricket was played. His dashing approach at the top of Sri Lanka’s innings in the mid to late 1990s was as revolutionary as it was breathtaking.

Jayasuriya’s batting led his team to World Cup glory in 1996 and from that point on being recognised among the most lethal batsmen to have ever played the game. His 134 from just 65 balls against Pakistan in 1996 included 11 sixes, a record that stood for 12 years in international cricket.

10.  Jayasuriya was a Chief Selector of Sri Lanka Cricket Team

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Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) appointed Sanath Jayasuriya as the chief selector in 2016  a little more than a year since he had stepped down from the post. He was in charge of a  four-member panel that comprised wicketkeeper-batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana, former offspinner Ranjith Madurasinghe and former fast bowler Eric Upashantha.

A selector in cricket is a person given the administrative duty to choose the players that will represent a particular team in a match. There is typically heavy scrutiny on national team selectors, including those of the major Test cricketing nations like Australia, England, and India.