16 Inspiring facts about Aravinda de Silva- Sri Lanka's first modern great

16 Inspiring facts about Aravinda de Silva- Sri Lanka’s first modern great: Aravinda de Silva is a monumental figure in the history of Sri Lanka cricket and will always remain one. He was the most important part of the triumphant 1996 World Cup team. His stellar performances in the tournament enabled Sri Lanka to shed the tag of the underdogs and take its first giant step towards becoming one of the leading team in International cricket.

Aravinda de Silva’s commitment to the game made him emerge as an elegant and masterful stroke maker from just being a basher of the ball. His achievements and his role in the uprising of the Sri Lanka cricket will be immortal in the minds of every Lankan cricket lover.

1. Birth:

Aravinda De Silva was born on 17^th October 1965 in Colombo the capital of Sri Lanka.

2. Nickname:

Aravinda was called as ‘Mad Max’ for being a reckless dasher during the early parts of his career. However, he was also fondly called as ‘Ara’ later in his career.

3. Education:

De Silva had his initial education in Isipathana College, Colombo and then joined D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo.

4. Beginning:

Aravinda de Silva made his Test debut at the Lord’s against England in 1984. His debut was an ordinary one, and could only score 16 and 3 in both innings of the Test match.

5. Cool personality:

He was known as a very casual and carefree cricketer by teammates who would arrive just before the match would begin and would sometimes doze off until it was his chance to bat.

6. Highest Test score:

De Silva’s played his best Test innings at Basin Reserve in 1991 against New Zealand, he scored his highest Test score of 267.

7. Double delight:

He scored a double century in each innings of a Test match twice in his career.

8. Century in World Cup finals:

His 107 in 124 balls made him the 3rd man after the two great West Indians Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards to score a hundred in a World Cup final.

9. MOM in World Cup final:

Aravinda de Silva was adjudged the man of the match in the 1996 World Cup final. He is the only player to score a hundred and pick 3 wickets in a world cup match.

10. Gentleman: 

Sri Lanka Team was in financial crisis, Aravinda opened the Nondescripts Cricket Club for his fellow team mate Ravindra Puspakumara to live at Ratmalana.

11. Captaincy:

He captained Sri Lanka in 18 ODIs. His record as captain is a rather disappointing one as he could record just 5 victories and lost 12 matches while 1 match bore no result.

12. Wisden cricketer of the year:

He was selected as one of the five Wisden cricketers in the year 1996.

13. Exceptional batsman:

For 6 times he featured in the Wisden list of top batting performances which is only less than the West Indies great Viv Richards.

14. Retirement:

Aravinda retired from International cricket after the 2003 World Cup. On 28th July 2007, he made a one-off appearance for a friend for Dorset county league side Sherborne.

15. Services to Sri Lanka Cricket:

He served Sri Lanka Cricket as the Head of National Selectors Committee for a brief period of time during 2010-11. However, he stepped down just before the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2011.

16. Avocation:

Apart from cricket his hobbies include baking and has an inclination towards fast cars.