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Mahela Jayawardene
by CricketArchive Staff Reporter


Player:DPMD Jayawardene

DateLine: 7th May 2009

 

Mahela Jayawardene's arrival in 1997 heralded the start of a new era for Sri Lanka's middle order as a batsman who specializes in scoring heavily. He was named captain the Lankan captain in 2006, led a 5-0 one-day whitewash over England and then scored a Sri Lankan record 374 against South Africa at the SSC in Colombo. He added 624 for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara - a first-class record. A marathon 242 against India in his seventh Test showed that Sri Lanka possessed a special talent within its ranks. However, after a prolific purple patch from 2000 to early-2002, his form became more patchy.

 

He suffered a run drought during the 2003 World Cup and was dropped immediately after. However, he soon regained his confidence and benefited from a stable batting position at No. 4 after the retirement of Aravinda de Silva. A good Test series against England was followed by a high-scoring run in 2004. He was appointed vice-captain of the one-day side for the second time in his career in 2003 and has been named by the selectors as the heir to the captaincy after Marvan Atapattu's tenure. He produced a stunning double at Lord's as Sri Lanka pulled off an amazing rearguard to save the match. His one-day captaincy reached a high when Sri Lanka made it to the final of the 2007 World Cup, slumped in the following months with inconsistent results and soared again after defeating India to claim the Asia Cup and the home Test series against the same team the following year. In February 2009, he announced his resignation as captain following the 4-1 defeat in the home ODIs against India, saying the time was right for fresh ideas to come into the team.

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