Tillakaratne Dilshan

Tillakaratne Dilshan
Personal information
Full name
Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan
Born
14 October 1976 (1976-10-14) (age 33)Kalutara, Sri Lanka
Batting style
Right-handed
Bowling style
Right arm off spin
Role
Batsman
International information
National side
Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 80)
18 November 1999 v Zimbabwe
Last Test
26 August 2009 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 102)
11 December 1999 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI
27 September 2009 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.
18
Domestic team information
Years 2000 – present
Team Bloomfield C&AC
1998 – 2000
Sebastianites C&AC

Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan (born October 14, 1976 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and member of the Sri Lankan national cricket team since November 1999. Known as Tuwan Mohammad Dilshan prior to his conversion from Islam to Buddhism, an aggressive right-hand batsman, he is also a capable spin bowler and his off breaks are mostly used in the one-day arena. T.M. Dilshan won the award of Twenty20 International Performance of the Year in ICC awards 2009 of his breezy 96 off 57 balls against West Indies in the semi-final of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England.

Personal life
Born to a Malay family, Dilshan converted from Islam to Buddhism at an early age. He has a five year old son from his first marriage. He is now married to Sri Lankan teledrama actress Manjula Thilini. The marriage was celebrated in India during IPL 2008 series, following Indian rituals.


Career
Dilshan made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in 1999. He scored his maiden Test hundred in the series with a 163. Dilshan also made his One day international debut against Zimbabwe before spending the next 15 months in and out of the side. Even when he played he never knew his place in the side as he was constantly being pushed up and down the order.
His revival as an international cricketer came in 2003. In four consecutive Test innings he scored 63, 100, 83 and 104. The latter came against the world champion Australian side at Galle. In September 2005 Dilshan scored his most recent Test century, an innings of 168 off just 179 balls against Bangladesh.
In first final of the 2005-06 VB Series, Dilshan's fielding made headlines when he made four run outs.
In November 2007, Dilshan scored 188 for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club against Colts Cricket Club in a 50 over game. The innings is the joint 14th highest score made in any List A cricket match (alongside Gary Kirsten's 188 in 1996), and came from just 135 balls, at a strike rate of 139.25. He hit 14 fours and 12 sixes before being bowled by fellow Sri Lankan international Nuwan Kulasekara. The scorecard for the game can be found here
In 2009 T20 world cup series, Dilshan became player of the series with 317 runs in seven matches which includes three half centuries. He maintained a 52.83 batting average throughout the series, which was the fourth best among all the cricketers, behind AJ Matthews (Sri Lanka) with 75, J Kallis (South Africa) with 59.5 and Younis Khan (Pakistan) with 57.33.
His scoop, played straight over the wicket keeper's head, was displayed for the first time during this tournament and came to be known as the Dilscoop in his honour.

Mendis arrives

The man who made every ball compelling

Players/Officials: Ajantha Mendis Rahul Dravid
Matches: Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (SSC)
Series/Tournaments: India tour of Sri Lanka
Teams: Sri Lanka
Other links: 50 Magic Moments

I have never watched cricket more intently. Australia in India 2000-01, and the 2005 Ashes were both engrossing drama, but neither made me want to not miss any part of them as much as India in Sri Lanka, 2008, did. Sehwag played the innings of the year in Galle, Murali was his devious self, Jayawardene silken, the umpiring decision reviews had to be watched, Ishant bowled a rousing spell, but it was Ajantha Mendis who demanded every ball be watched.
And it was challenging, to watch every ball of long spells closely, trying to read from behind (I was watching on TV) what it would be - regulation offbreak, carrom ball breaking away, the two-fingered googly, or the non-spinning carrom ball. It was rewarding, too, for this was a bowler unlike any I had seen.
In July 2008, Mendis was a complete mystery. He didn't grow in the public eye, he spoke only Sinhala, his captain didn't talk a lot about him in public and admitted to not knowing - at times - what fields to set for Mendis because he didn't know what he was going to bowl.
The function of Mendis' left hand could not be overstated; it was like the final salute. Abdul Qadir used to hold it up in the air before he started to run in, Mendis' left came down with the index finger stuck out, ruling the batsman out even before he had bowled. When he beat the batsman, he grinned in a sinister manner; he knew a secret the batsman didn't.
The run-up was a letdown, innocuous-looking even: no angular run, no contortion, no getting the body into unnatural positions. He didn't impart much violence onto the ball, he seemed to merely caress it out of the hand as if sending a trained pet out to show the world another trick.
The arrival was perfect too: in his first four overs in Test cricket, he troubled Rahul Dravid with the carrom ball; in his fifth he had him bowled. It was a rare sight. Dravid stayed on the back foot, unsure of how much the ball would turn, jabbed at the wrong line, desperately tried to get his pad in line, but it was all a blur, the off stump was out, Mendis had arrived. Dravid's face, as captured in a photograph too, showed he hadn't seen anything like it before.

Malinga takes four

World Cup 2007: the wild-haired slinger nearly does a coasting South Africa in

Players/Officials: Lasith Malinga
Matches: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Providence
Series/Tournaments: ICC World Cup
Teams: South Africa Sri Lanka
Other links: 50 Magic Moments
Providence, 28 March 2007
Providence Stadium wasn't a patch on the dear old Bourda, we decided as we stewed in the former's glassed in press box. On South Africa's 2005 tour, for instance, a stark white face glowed out of the deep darkness of the verandah opposite the Bourda's airy, open press box. A gander through the binocs confirmed the stupendous: Mick bloody Jagger himself!
And here we are two years later, suffering the stupidity of this half-built, half-baked sterile new stadium. Can't get no satisfaction, indeed.
Now if South Africa could only get the last four runs, we could find some unboiled air. Come on, Lasith Malinga, bowl the last two balls of the 45th over already.
A slower delivery, straight and true, sends Shaun Pollock's leg stump jumping jack flash into the air. Next ball, Andrew Hall digs out a yorker - straight into the hands of the man in the covers. The 46th over yields a single, and puts Jacques Kallis on strike to face Malinga's hat-trick ball.
Surely Kallis, rocksteady as Table Mountain itself, on 86, will end it. Here comes Malinga… and there goes Kallis, square-driving an edge to the wicketkeeper. Malinga rockets into the sky with a yawp, mad pom-pom of hair all abounce as he does so.
Makhaya Ntini doesn't really know what's going on until he's doing the Harlem shuffle all the way back to the hut, yorked by Malinga's next delivery.
Four in four. Nine down. Still three to get. Chaminda Vaas bowls a maiden. Some of us succumb to a 19th nervous breakdown.
Malinga's in to Robin Peterson, who looks like he's been woken by a bright light. He swings. He misses. Dot ball.
Here comes Malinga again. Peterson throws his bat at a ball pitched outside off stump as if he is trying very hard not to hit a hand grenade. But he does - only just, and the edge scoots to the third man ropes for four. Emotional rescue.

Sri Lanka tour of India

Kandamby, Kaushal Silva get Test call-ups
Series/Tournaments: Sri Lanka tour of India
Teams: Sri Lanka
Two uncapped players, left-hand middle-order batsman Thilina Kandamby and wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva, have been named in Sri Lanka's Test squad for the tour of India starting next month. Another major change in the 16-man line-up for the three-Test series was a recall for left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedera after a two-year absence from the senior side. The notable absentees are opener Malinda Warnapura and middle-order batsman Chamara Kapugedera.
Kandamby has made it to the Test squad on the strength of his exceptional one-day form. Since his recall to the one-day side last year, Kandamby has been one of Sri Lanka's consistent performers scoring 618 runs from 17 ODIs at an average of 44.14 including five half-centuries.
Silva is highly rated by captain Kumar Sangakkara, who once said that it was the presence of the world's best Test wicketkeeper in the side, Prasanna Jayawardene, that was keeping Silva on the sidelines. A right-hand middle order batsman Silva has been a prolific scorer for Sinhalese Sports Club in the domestic circuit and captained Sri Lanka A against Pakistan A early this year.
Welegedera, 28, played his only Test against England at Galle in 2007 where he took four wickets for 76 and was hailed as the likely successor to Sri Lanka's most successful fast bowler, Chaminda Vaas. However, Welegedera failed to live up to the high expectations and faded out of contention until last season when he came back strongly with some inspiring bowling performances for Wayamba in the provincial tournament to stake a claim for a place in the Test side.
Welagedera also gets a nod in for the two Twenty20s along with hard-hitting Chintaka Jayasinghe and Kaushalya Weeraratne and allrounder Muthumudalige Pushpakumara. For the five one-day internationals, fast bowler Dilhara Fernando has been recalled.

Tests:
Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis.

Twenty20s:
Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Kaushal Weeraratne, Ajantha Mendis, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera.

ODIs:
Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Tilina Kandamby, Upul Tharanga, Angelo Mathews, Thilan Samaraweera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis.

Jayasuriya's future under scrutiny

Sri Lanka in India 2009-10

Series/Tournaments: Sri Lanka tour of India
Teams: Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya's cricketing future has been put in the balance with Sri Lanka's selectors saying today that his days as an opener are effectively over and that following the upcoming tour of India he will be picked on performance alone. Jayasuriya, 40, has been picked in the one-day squad as an allrounder who can bat down the order and bowl left-arm spin.
"What we expect from Sanath is that he should win one in three games for Sri Lanka, which he was doing in the past," Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, said in Colombo. "But now that has reduced and we are a little concerned about it. In the Champions Trophy in South Africa his performance was below par .That's the reason why we have gone in with the option of playing him as an allrounder."
Jayasuriya scored freely during the World Twenty20 in England this summer, where Sri Lanka finished runners-up, and ended as their joint second-highest run-getter with 177 at 25.28. However, he underperformed in the limited-overs fixtures against New Zealand and India at home and in the Champions Trophy.
Sri Lanka's selectors have Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan in mind as the opening pair for the future and Jayasuriya's selection will depend on the requirements of the team depending on where they will play. "We have spoken to Sanath on the role he has to play," de Mel said. "He has the option to play as an allrounder. We have considered him for this tour only, after that his selection will depend on his performance. He has to perform to hold his place in the team for the World Cup."
de Mel said the selectors did not have a settled position for Jayasuriya, who was impressive as an allrounder during Sri Lanka's victorious World Cup campaign in 1996, and that his flexibility worked in his favour. "Especially in the batting power play having a spinning allrounder like Sanath is useful in the subcontinent because he can hit the ball. He might bat in the middle or in the top order depending on the situation," he said. "Also, the World Cup will be held in the subcontinent where his left-arm spin can become useful. He can perform that role because in South Africa in the game against New Zealand when they scored 300 runs he was the one who bowled ten overs for three wickets and 30 runs. He has done well in the subcontinent especially with his bowling."
Jayasuriya is the second batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to pass 13,000 runs in ODIs and also holds the record for being the oldest batsman to score a one-day century, at 39 years and 212 days against India in Colombo. Of the 13,377 runs he has scored in 441 ODIs, 2841 have come in 86 ODIs against India including seven hundreds at a strike-rate of 97.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara felt the main factor in Sri Lanka's poor ODI performances over the past two years has been an inconsistent batting line up. "The biggest let-down we had is our batting. We suffered because we had lots of batting position changes up and down the order," he said. "For the batting to improve you must give the players the confidence. They must know what role they are supposed to play. Role identification has been a big problem. Except for the openers no one knew what their role was in the side.
"We have never clicked in all departments those are things the team ignored for a while. The players have now started to realise that they take a lot of pride not just representing the country but to be up to the task that is required of them by the team."
Fielding was one of the key areas where Sri Lanka suffered during the Champions Trophy and to address the poor standards and improve them Sri Lanka Cricket acquired the services of Gavin Fingleson, a former Olympic baseball player.
"He didn't come and change but showed us how do things right. He showed us little points that will make us better and quick fielders, at the same time we also realized to be quicker on the field you've got to be fitter as a side," Sangakkara said. "We started doing a lot of work on fitness running. Gavin showed us a lot of drills and how you can gain that extra second advantage when going for a catch or trying to stop the ball. At the same time the most important point was to make sure at practice you do everything as perfectly, those are the habits we have to build on."

ALWAYS WE ARE LIONS

Sri Lanka national cricket team

Sri Lanka national cricket team

Test status granted
1982
First Test match
v England at Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, 17–21st February 1982
Captain
Kumar Sangakkara
Coach
Trevor Bayliss
Official ICC Test and ODI ranking
2nd (Test), 7th (ODI)
Test matches- 189
This year - 5
Last Test match
v New Zealand at Colombo, 26–30 August 2009
Wins/losses- 60/67
This year - 4/1
As of 19 January2008


The Sri Lankan cricket team is a national cricket team representing Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test playing nation. The Sri Lankan team transformed themselves from underdog status to a major cricketing nation during the 1990s. The team went on to win the 1996 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia in the finals, and becoming World Champions. Since then, the team has continued to be a major force in international cricket. Sri Lankan team currently holds several word records including world records for highest team totals in all three forms of the game, Test, ODI and, Twenty20. The Sri Lanka team did well to reach the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup in a rain-affected match. The batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva (retired), backed up by the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, among many other talented cricketers, has underpinned the successes of Sri Lankan cricket during the last 15 years. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket.
Sri Lanka have won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 co champions with India since the final was a wash out and have been runners up in the Under 19 Cricket World Cup in 2000 and have been runners up in the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009.


History of Sri Lankan international cricket
Early years
Ceylon, as the country was known before 1972, played its first first-class match under that name against MCC at Nomads Ground, Victoria Park, Colombo in 1926–27, losing by an innings. The team's first win came against Patiala at Dhruve Pandove Stadium in 1932–33. The Ceylonese side competed in the M. J. Gopalan Trophy games from the 1950s, through the change of name to Sri Lanka, well into the 1970s.

Test status and beyond
Gained Test Status in 1981 and first played a Test Match in 1982
Won the 1996 Cricket World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan
Semi Finalists in the 2003 Cricket World Cup hosted by South Africa
Runners up of the 2007 World Cup hosted by the West Indies
As of October 2007, the Sri Lankan team has played 170 Test matches, winning 29.41%, losing 37.05% and drawing 33.52% of its games. Sri Lanka hold the current records for the highest total score in all three main formats of the game.
Sri Lankan cricket's greatest moment undoubtedly came during the aforementioned 1996 World Cup, when they defeated the top-ranked Australian team in the Final. Sri Lanka's game style over the course of the series revolutionized One Day International Cricket, and was characterized by highly aggressive batting in the first fifteen overs of the innings in order to take advantage of the fielding restrictions imposed during this period. This strategy has since become a hallmark of One Day International cricket.
Sri Lankan cricket supporters were once again thrilled by the team's tremendous performance at the NatWest Series in 2006. Although as a whole the team missed its captain, Marvan Atapattu, and also Muttiah Muralitharan, nevertheless Sanath, together with Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof all contributed substantially.
Sri Lanka's performance during the 5–0 whitewash, England's heaviest home defeat in 13 years, was, some sloppy fielding in a couple of games aside, consistently excellent. Sanath Jayasuriya was both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series. They also made the highest score in One Day International Cricket of 443 against The Netherlands in the following series.

2009 shooting incident
Main article: 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team
On March 3, 2009, the Sri Lankan team's convoy was attacked in Lahore, Pakistan by gunmen. This led to the death of five policemen and injuries to seven cricketers and a member of the coaching team. The team was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium where they were scheduled to begin the third day of the Second Test. After the incident the test match was called off by the Sri Lankan Cricket board. Sri Lanka had agreed to tour Pakistan, replacing India who refused to do so citing security concerns.

Injured
Thilan Samaraweera
Kumar Sangakkara
Tharanga Paranavitana
Ajantha Mendis
Chaminda Vaas
Mahela Jayawardene
Suranga Lakmal
Paul Farbrace

Governing body
Main article: Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket, formerly the Board for Cricket Control in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), is the controlling body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lankan cricket team and first-class cricket within Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions: the First-class tournament Premier Trophy, the List A tournament Premier Limited Overs Tournament and the Twenty20 competition Twenty20 Tournament. They also organize and host the Inter-Provincial Tournament, a competition where the above first-class do not take part but rather teams represent four different provinces of Sri Lanka.

International grounds
Main article: List of cricket grounds in Sri Lanka


Saravanamuttu

SSC Grounds

CCC Grounds

Premadasa

Tyronne Fernando

Galle International

Asgiriya

Rangiri Dambulla

Locations of all stadiums which have hosted a Test match or an One Day International within Sri Lanka.

Test and ODI
Listed in order of date first used for Test match
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo
Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo
Colombo Cricket Club Ground, Colombo
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Tyronne Fernando Stadium, Moratuwa
Galle International Stadium, Galle

ODI only
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla