Todays our pick is Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene who born 27 May 1977, a day like today 35 years ago. And he is known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Mahela Jayawardene captained his school’s Under-13 side, playing at the pivotal number three position. With his wonderful, flowing technique and his penchant for big runs, he quickly became one of the most promising players at school level. He debuted for Sinhalese Sports Club in 1995 and after slamming four centuries in the 1997-98 season, was fast tracked into Sri Lanka’s Test squad.
He made an impressive debut against India carving a neat 66-run knock in a game in which Sri Lanka piled a mammoth 952-6. He made his ODI debut in 1998 and scored a fine 74 in only his second game. However his breakthrough innings was a fluent 167 against New Zealand on a Galle pitch so treacherous that Stephen Fleming labelled it as a ‘dung heap.’
Happy Birthday Mayya....!!!!
(c) CRiCTURF | Iranda Tharaka
