Cricket is popular among the Sri Lankan diaspora. The country comes to a standstill when their team plays a vital match. Although Sri Lankan cricket has been going downhill for a decade, we cannot overlook the fact that the island nation has produced some excellent cricketers who have entertained us and maintained the decency of the game. So, let’s look at the Top 10 Sri Lankan Cricketers of all time.
1. Sanath Jayasuriya
Jayasuriya revolutionized the opening slot by playing attacking cricket. Jayasuriya changed the way cricket could be played; going hard in power play and scoring runs for the team by thrashing the ball for boundaries was his strategy. His record-breaking 134 runs against Pakistan were an innings way ahead of our time. Be it batting or bowling; he always made sure that he contributed both ways. He captured 300 wickets and scored over 10,000 runs with a mediocre average of 32; since cricket is not just about standards, players are considered significant by the kind of impact they bring on the game, and Jayasuriya was a game-changer.
2. Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara was a classy batsman who had mastered being consistent. He would read the game from behind the stumps with his blitzkrieg hands and tactical mind. Having scored 28,016 runs across all formats, he was the mainstay of Sri Lankan batting. Sangakkara is one of the few elite cricketers to have scored 10,000 runs in both forms of the game; he stands 4th in the list of the most significant dismissals as a wicketkeeper, i.e., 678. His statistics speak volumes for his success.
3. Muttiah Muralitharan
An intelligent Sri Lankan bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, shattered every bowling record in red-ball cricket. He had a five-wicket haul against every nation except Australia. He has 67 five-wicket hauls and 22 ten-wicket hauls under his name, which speaks of his dominance. One of his memorable spells was when he captured 16 wickets against England in Ova and became a chief architect. In 2010, after dismissing Ojha with his spin, Muralitharan became the first-ever bowler to take 800 wickets in test cricket. The Tamil boy wholly owned the game.
4. Mahela Jayewardene
Mahela Jayewardene was an influential batsman who could adapt to the changing requirements of the game. He was more of a finisher who believed in finishing the game by collaborating boundaries with bowlers. He is the first Sri Lankan cricketer to surpass the 11,000-run mark and break Don’s record of 29 centuries in Galle. A prolific run-getter, Mahela always showed up when the team needed him.
5. Lasith Malinga
The Yorker King, Lasith Malinga, could break batman’s toe with his deadly accurate Yorkers. When the batsman was new to the crease, it would become difficult to negotiate with them. His deliveries were hard to pick up because of his unique action. He became the first bowler to hit the mark of 100 wickets in T20Is and the only bowler to have three hat-tricks under his name in ODIs. Mumbai Indians or Sri Lanka; he always turned the game to its head with his deadly bowling.
6. Arvind De Silva
Arvind De Silva is the best batsman Sri Lanka ever produced. He was technically a batsman with no noticeable weaknesses; 20 centuries in 90 odd tests, 267 as highest, and more than 9000 runs in ODI put him in the league of Sachin and Lara. He batted to ensure that the team did not collapse badly; during the 1996 World Cup, he scored 448 runs with a strike rate of 107.69 in six games and took four wickets. Silva went down as one of the greatest players of the cricketing world.
7. Marvan Atapattu
One of the most successful captains of Sri Lanka, Atapattu dominated the country’s cricket for almost 20 years. His career did not take off with a flying start, and he got dropped after a couple of matches, but his perseverance and his never-say-die attitude earned him a place in the team, and he went on to become a legendary player. He has more than 5000 runs under his belt, comprising 16 centuries and six double hundreds.
8. Arjun Ranatunga
Arjun Ranatunga was an ambitious captain who transformed the Sri Lankan team. He backed players like Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya and turned them into firearms. From winning the 1996 world cup to beating England in their first test match, it came under Ranatunga’s fierce leadership. A daunting batsman with an average of 36, he managed to score more than 12,000 runs across all the formats plus his bowing skills came in handy at times as well.
9. Chaminda Vaas
The veteran Sri Lankan seamer, Vaas’s capability to add a seam to his swing on the flattest tracks made him a master. He completely shattered the batsman by capturing 300 test wickets and 400 ODI wickets. One of the many records to his name is taking an eight-wicket haul in ODIs, and well, he remains the only one to do so.
10. Tillakarante Dilshan
In world cricket, a wicket-taking spin bowler and an opening batsman Dilshan invented the infamous “Dilscoop.” Dilshan would wait for a good start and capitalize on that; he was pure in technique and batting prowess. Being the first batsman to score a century in all game formats, Dilshan scored over 10,000 in ODIs and 1,889 and 5,492 in T20Is and Tests, respectively. Being able to bowl off break, he pulled off 154 wickets and contributed impartially.
