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Aravinda De Silva by SPGPECT from

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Aravinda de Silva

Before Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, and even Sanath Jayasuriya, there was Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva, who might be considered the first Sri Lankan cricket superstar and who was a class above the rest with the willow. De Silva, who was born on October 17, 1965, was not only Sri Lanka’s World Cup hero in 1996, but also the cricketer who encouraged a generation on the island to start playing the game.

Here are remarkable facts about him. 

1. His father struggled to find him a school

RIT by Ekoomen from

Finding De Silva a good school proved to be a challenge for his father Sam. Later, his father requested that the small kid be admitted to grade one. DS Senanayake College Principal RIT Alles consented. With his appealing batting, he quickly started to gain recognition.

2. He was a teenager when he made his test debut 

De Silva made his Test debut against England at Lord’s when he was just a teenager. The attack on Ian Botham by Duleep Mendis in that Test is what people most commonly recall. De Sliva scored 19 runs while playing poorly.

3. He never managed to win a test as a captain

In the 1992 World Cup, De Silva served as Sri Lanka’s team captain. 18 ODIs and 6 Tests in the 1990s saw de Silva captain Sri Lanka. He never had success as captain in a Test match.

4. De Silva played county cricket for Kent in 1995

Mark Ramprakash by Loganberry from

In 1995, De Silva participated in county cricket for Kent. Despite the fact that Kent finished last on the table with only 132 points, de Silva excelled for his county. After Mark Ramprakash and Nasser Hussain, he finished the competition with the third-most runs scored. De Silva finished first at 59.36 with 1,781 runs. 7 tons were slammed by him.

5. De Silva saved Sri Lanka from being ousted 

Wicket by Khedara Ariyaratne from

When Sri Lanka faced India in the 1996 World Cup semifinal at Eden Gardens, they were having some problems. After losing two wickets for one run, Sri Lanka was out of the game until de Silva’s blitz. He made 66 from 47 and later took Nayan Mongia’s wicket.

His bowling numbers of 9-0-42-3 in the championship match’s final limited Australia to 241 runs, and subsequently with the bat, he helped Sri Lanka win the match by scoring 107 runs without being out. In both games, he received the Man of the Match award. He is the only cricketer to date to have scored a hundred and taken three wickets in the tournament’s grand finale. He was the third player, after Clive Lloyd and Richards, to do it.

6.De Silva was one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year 

In 1996, De Silva was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. One of the best county cricket performances in 1995 was his 112 off 95 balls in the Benson & Hedges final.

7. He has an impressive record

Although De Silva’s career stats don’t always show off his brilliance because he struggled in the beginning, they nevertheless make for compelling watching.

De Silva scored 9,284 runs at 34.90 from 308 ODIs and 6,361 runs at 42.97 from 93 Tests. In addition, De Silva has 135 wickets to his credit. In First-Class cricket, he averages just 29.17 while bowling.

8. His house was once robbed

De Silva’s home was burglarized a few days after his 49th birthday when he and his wife were traveling abroad. According to the reports, the safe’s cash contents totaled Rs 5 million.

9. He’s a Buddhist

Budda Daibutsu by Dirk Beyer from

Aravinda: My Autobiography, De Silva’s autobiography, was published. He wrote about the influence Buddhism had on his development and career.

10. He was appointed as the chairman of the national selection committee

Prior to resigning following the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, he served for a brief period as the national selection committee’s chairman.

Prior to the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 competition, sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara reappointed de Silva as the chairman of the national selection committee on March 7. On May 5, 2017, De Silva announced his resignation from his position, after a 13-month tenure.