Sanath Jayasuriya facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Deshabandu Sanath Jayasuriya
Jayasuriya in 2006
Member of Parliament for Matara
In office 22 April 2010 – 26 June 2015
Majority	74,352 Preferential Votes
Deputy Minister of Provincial Councils and Regional Development
In office 10 June 2015 – 17 August 2015
President	Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development
In office 12 January 2015 – 10 June 2015
President	Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Deputy Minister of Postal Services
In office 28 January 2013 – 9 January 2015
President	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	D. M. Jayaratne
Personal details
Political party	United People's Freedom Alliance
Spouses	Sumudhu Karunanayake ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 1999)​ Sandra De Silva ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2012)​ Maleeka Sirisenage ​ ​ (m. 2012; div. 2012)​
Children	3
Residence	Matara
Alma mater	St. Servatius' College, Matara
Nicknames	Matara Hurricane Matara Mauler
Personal information Born (1969-06-30) 30 June 1969 (age 56) Matara, Ceylon Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Batting Left-handed Bowling Slow left arm orthodox Role All-rounder International information National side Sri Lanka (1989–2011) Test debut (cap 49) 22 February 1991 v New Zealand Last Test 1 December 2007 v England ODI debut (cap 58) 26 December 1989 v Australia Last ODI 28 June 2011 v England ODI shirt no. 07 T20I debut (cap 4) 15 June 2006 v England Last T20I 25 June 2011 v England Domestic team information Years Team 1994–2011 Bloomfield 2005 Somerset 2007 Lancashire 2008 warwickshire 2008–2010 Mumbai Indians 2010 Worcestershire 2011 Ruhuna Rhinos 2012 Khulna Royal Bengals 2012 Kandurata Warriors Career statistics Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 110 445 265 557 Runs scored 6,973 13,430 14,819 16,128 Batting average 40.07 32.36 38.39 31.19 100s/50s 14/31 28/68 29/71 31/82 Top score 340 189 340 189 Balls bowled 8,188 14,874 15,275 18,167 Wickets 98 323 205 413 Bowling average 34.34 36.75 33.20 34.85 5 wickets in innings 2 4 2 5 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 5/34 6/29 5/34 6/29 Catches/stumpings 78/– 123/– 162/– 153/– Medal record Men's Cricket Representing  Sri Lanka ICC Cricket World Cup Winner 1996 India-Pakistan-Sri Lanka {{{3}}} Runner-up 2007 West Indies {{{3}}} Source: ESPNcricinfo, 15 April 2021

Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (Sinhala: සනත් ‌‌ටෙරාන් ජයසූරිය, Tamil: சனத் ஜெயசூர்யா; born 30 June 1969) is a famous Sri Lankan cricketer. He was also a captain, cricket manager, and coach. Many people think he is one of the best all-rounders in One Day International (ODI) cricket ever.

Jayasuriya was a left-handed batsman who hit the ball very hard. He was also a left-arm spin bowler and a great fielder. With his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana, he changed how ODI cricket was played in the mid-1990s. They started hitting the ball aggressively from the very first overs. This new style is now common in modern cricket.

He was a very important player for the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Later, as captain, he led Sri Lanka to be joint champions with India in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. As of July 2025, he is the head coach of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.

Sanath Jayasuriya is known for his powerful hitting and for winning matches with his all-round skills. An all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. His international career lasted over twenty years. He is the only player to have scored more than 10,000 runs and taken more than 300 wickets in ODI cricket. This makes him one of the best all-rounders in the history of limited-overs cricket. He set many world records during his career.

Jayasuriya was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. He was also chosen as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year in 1997 by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. He was the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003. He helped his team reach the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup and the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. He stopped playing Test cricket in December 2007 and limited-overs cricket in June 2011.

After his playing career, he became the chairman of the cricket selection committee for Sri Lanka Cricket in January 2013. During his time as chief selector, Sri Lanka won the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2014. Jayasuriya also entered politics. He was elected to parliament in the 2010 general elections from his home district of Matara. He served as a deputy minister in the government.

Early Life and Cricket Beginnings

Sanath Jayasuriya was born on June 30, 1969, in Matara, a city in southern Sri Lanka. His parents are Dunstan and Breeda Jayasuriya. He has an older brother named Chandana.

He went to St. Servatius' College in Matara. There, his school principal, G.L. Galappathy, and cricket coach, Lionel Wagasinghe, helped him develop his cricket skills. He was excellent at cricket in school and captained his college team in 1988. In the same year, he was named the 'Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' for players outside the main city. He also won awards for 'Best Batsman' and 'Best All-rounder'.

Jayasuriya played for the Sri Lanka Under-19 team in the first ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Australia in 1988. A few months later, he toured Pakistan with the Sri Lanka 'B' team, where he scored two double centuries without being out. Soon after, he joined the national team for a tour to Australia in 1989–90.

He played his first One Day International match against Australia in Melbourne on December 26, 1989. His first Test match was against New Zealand in Hamilton in February 1991.

Playing Style and International Career

Batting Style

Sanath Jayasuriya, along with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana, changed how teams batted in One Day International cricket. During the 1996 Cricket World Cup, they started hitting the ball very hard from the beginning of the game. This meant they took advantage of the early rules that limited where fielders could stand. Instead of slowly building runs, they would hit the ball over the fielders.

This was a new and exciting way to play at the time. Sri Lanka, who had never gone past the first round before, went on to win the World Cup without losing a single match. Their aggressive plan is now a common way for teams to start batting in limited-overs cricket. Famous bowler Glenn McGrath said that Jayasuriya changed the game with his powerful batting in the 1996 World Cup.

Jayasuriya was known for his strong cuts and pulls, and his special shot was a lofted cut over the point area. He was a key player in Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup win and was named the best player of the tournament. He always played aggressively when batting. He holds the record for the second-highest number of ODI centuries. He also has the fourth-most scores of 150 runs or more. When he scored over 50 runs in limited-overs cricket, Sri Lanka won about 75% of those matches.

Known as an aggressive opener, due to high-class match-winning devastating performances in ODIs

Bowling Style

Jayasuriya was a left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He was known for bowling his overs quickly. Even though he was a spinner, he often bowled faster balls and yorkers with a quick arm action. This helped him take many wickets. He took 440 wickets in total in international cricket. He also had six instances where he took five wickets in an innings.

His best bowling performance in an international match was taking 6 wickets for only 29 runs against England in an ODI in 1993. This was the best bowling by a Sri Lankan in ODIs until Muttiah Muralitharan broke the record in 2000. In Test cricket, his best bowling figures were 9 wickets for 74 runs against Zimbabwe in 2001/2002.

One of his most memorable bowling moments was in the semi-final of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. He took three wickets for just 12 runs in seven overs. He took the important wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, which helped Sri Lanka win the game. Jayasuriya was the most successful bowler for Sri Lanka in the knockout stage of the 1996 World Cup, taking 6 wickets in three games. As an all-rounder, he took 27 wickets in Cricket World Cups, including 10 wickets in the 2003 tournament.

Test Cricket Career

Sanath Jayasuriya once held the record for the highest Test score by a Sri Lankan. He scored 340 runs against India in 1997. This huge score was part of a partnership with Roshan Mahanama that set a new record for any partnership in Test history, with 576 runs. Both these records were later broken in July 2006 by fellow Sri Lankan players Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

In September 2005, Jayasuriya became the first Sri Lankan to play 100 Test matches. He was the 33rd cricketer in Test history to reach this milestone. He announced his retirement from Test cricket in December 2007 after a match against England in Kandy. In that match, he hit six fours in one over against James Anderson.

One Day International Career

Jayasuriya once held records for the fastest fifty (17 balls against Pakistan), fastest 100 for Sri Lanka (48 balls against Pakistan), and fastest 150 (95 balls against England) in ODI cricket. His fastest fifty record lasted for 19 years. This was especially impressive because there were no special fielding rules or power plays back then. While others have since broken these records, his achievements were groundbreaking.

His highest ODI score is 189 runs, which he scored against India in Sharjah in 2000. This was the highest ODI score by a Sri Lankan for 24 years. In 2024, Pathum Nissanka scored 210* runs, breaking Jayasuriya's record.

Jayasuriya was the first batsman to score over 30 runs in a single over in an ODI. He achieved this twice. He also became the fourth batsman to score more than 10,000 runs in ODIs. He was the second player to reach both 12,000 and 13,000 runs in ODI history. He has 28 centuries, which is the fourth-highest in ODIs.

In May 2006, during a series in England, he scored two centuries. In the final match, he scored 152 runs off just 99 balls. In that game, he and Upul Tharanga set a new record for the first wicket partnership, scoring 286 runs together. Sri Lanka won the series 5–0, and Jayasuriya was named the best player of the series.

After that, Sri Lanka played a series in the Netherlands. In the first game, Jayasuriya scored 157 runs off 104 balls. Sri Lanka made a total of 443/9, which was a new world record for the highest team score in an ODI at that time. This innings was his fourth score of over 150 runs. It was also his second consecutive score of 150 or more, making him the only player in ODI history to achieve this.

He also scored 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In 2008, he was recalled to the Sri Lankan team after a great performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He scored 514 runs, helping Sri Lanka win the 2008 Asia Cup with a brilliant century in the final. His international career was revived at the age of 41. He was called back to play for Sri Lanka in 2011 for a tour of England and Scotland.

During the 2008 Asia Cup, Jayasuriya scored a century against Bangladesh on his 39th birthday. This made him one of only a few cricketers to score an ODI century on their birthday.

Twenty20 Cricket Career

During the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, Jayasuriya used a Reebok-sponsored bat instead of his usual Kookaburra bat. He scored two half-centuries in the tournament against New Zealand and Kenya. He also holds a record for the most expensive bowling figures in a Twenty20 international, giving away 64 runs in 4 overs.

In April 2008, he joined the Mumbai Indians to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20. He scored an amazing 114 runs not out off just 48 balls for the Mumbai Indians against Chennai. This performance helped him get back into the national one-day team. He followed this with a quick 48 runs not out off 17 balls, helping his team chase down a score of 67 in just 6 overs. This was the biggest victory in Twenty20 history based on balls remaining.

In 2010, he played for Worcestershire in their Twenty20 matches. At 42, Jayasuriya played for the Ruhuna Rhinos in the 2011 Champions League. In 2012, he played for the Khulna Royal Bengals in the first Bangladesh Premier League. Later that year, he played for Kandurata Warriors in the first Sri Lanka Premier League.

Captaincy and All-Round Skills

Sanath Jayasuriya was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1996. He was also one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997. He was the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team in 38 Test matches and 117 One Day Internationals from 1999 to 2003.

As captain, Jayasuriya led Sri Lanka to the knockout stage of the 2003 cricket world cup. He stepped down from captaincy after they lost to Australia in the semi-final. He was a very useful all-rounder, meaning he was good at both batting and bowling. He had a good batting average in both Test and One Day Internationals. He also had an excellent batting strike rate in ODIs, meaning he scored runs quickly.

As a left-arm orthodox spin bowler, he took many wickets and helped reduce the pressure on other main bowlers like Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. By the end of his career, Jayasuriya had taken over 400 wickets in international cricket, with more than 300 wickets in One Day Internationals. He was also a skilled fielder. A report from 2005 showed he had made the seventh-highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket since the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Cricket Selection Committee Role

Sanath Jayasuriya was appointed as the chairman of the national cricket team's selection committee on January 28, 2013. This committee chooses the players for the national team. During his time as chairman, Sri Lanka won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and the 2014 Asia Cup. They also achieved their first ever full series win in England across all three formats (Tests, ODIs, and T20s). His term ended in 2015.

He was appointed chairman of selectors again on April 11, 2016. During this period, many new players got to play for Sri Lanka. However, the team faced many challenges, including losing their world No. 1 ranking in T20Is and losing several series. Despite these difficulties, Sri Lanka did achieve a historic whitewash (winning all matches) against Australia in the Warne-Murali Trophy. On August 29, 2017, Jayasuriya and his selection panel resigned after heavy losses to India.

Coaching Career

After his international ban from cricket ended, Sanath Jayasuriya started his first coaching job with Mulgrave Cricket Club in Melbourne, Australia. This club plays in a lower division of Australian cricket. His former opening partner, Tillekaratne Dilshan, encouraged him to join the team.

Jayasuriya became the interim head coach of Sri Lanka in July 2024. He was then given the full-time coaching job in October 2024. As of July 2025, he continues to serve as the head coach of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.

Personal Life

Sanath Jayasuriya was the first cricketer to be named a UN Goodwill Ambassador by UNAIDS, an organization that works to prevent HIV/AIDS. This was for his work in preventing HIV/AIDS among young people in Sri Lanka.

He entered politics in February 2010 as a candidate for the Matara District. He was part of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) party. He continued to play cricket even after being elected to parliament. In October 2013, he became the deputy minister of Postal Services.

On June 10, 2015, Jayasuriya became the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development. He held this position until the parliament was dissolved on June 26, 2015. He did not run in the 2015 election but supported the United National Party's campaign.

Knee Injury

In January 2018, it was reported that Jayasuriya had a serious knee injury. He needed crutches to walk. He traveled to Melbourne for surgery and stayed there for about a month to recover.

Player Statistics

Career Performance

Sanath Jayasuriya's career performance graph.

Centuries

Jayasuriya scored 14 centuries in Test matches and 28 centuries in One Day Internationals.

He scored his first Test century in 1996. His highest Test score was 340 runs against India in August 1997. This was the highest score by a Sri Lankan cricketer until 2006. It was also part of the highest team total (952/6) ever made in Test cricket. He also scored two double centuries: 213 against England and 253 against Pakistan. His 157 runs against Zimbabwe in 2004 was the second fastest century by a Sri Lankan player. Jayasuriya scored centuries against every Test-playing nation except New Zealand and West Indies. He retired from Test cricket in 2007 with 14 centuries.

Jayasuriya started playing ODIs in 1989 and became an opening batsman in 1993. He scored his first century in 1994 against New Zealand. He has scored the most ODI centuries for Sri Lanka, with 28. He is currently fourth in the world for most ODI centuries. His second century, 134 runs against Pakistan in 1996, was scored very quickly and was the fastest century in ODI cricket at the time. This record was later broken by Shahid Afridi. His score of 189 against India in 2000 is the sixth-highest ODI score in a single innings. When he scored 157 against the Netherlands in 2006, he helped Sri Lanka set a world record for the highest ODI team total of 443/9. On January 28, 2009, at 39 years old, he became the oldest player to score an ODI century with 107 runs against India. He also became the second player to score more than 13,000 runs in an ODI career.

Records and Career Achievements

• Sanath Jayasuriya has scored 19,298 runs as an opener in international cricket. This is the most by any opening batsman in cricket history.
• He is the only cricketer to achieve the all-rounder double of scoring 10,000 runs and taking 300 wickets in One Day International cricket.
• He was the first cricketer to score a century in less than 50 balls in international cricket. He scored an ODI century in just 48 balls against Pakistan in 1996.
• In his career, he took 323 wickets in ODIs, including 12 times where he took four or more wickets.
• Jayasuriya holds the record for the second-highest ODI innings by a Sri Lankan, with 189 runs against India in 2000. In that match, his score made up 64% of Sri Lanka's total runs.
• His 28 centuries are the most by a Sri Lankan in One Day Internationals. He also scored 14 Test centuries, including two double centuries and one triple century.
• He holds the record for the most runs scored in a two-match Test series, with 571 runs against India in 1997.
• Jayasuriya scored 340 runs in a Test match against India in 1997. This is the highest Test score by a batsman against India. It is also the second-highest Test score by a Sri Lankan and the eighth-highest overall. He batted for 799 minutes, which is one of the longest Test innings ever.
• Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama hold the record for the highest second-wicket partnership in Test cricket. They scored 576 runs together against India in 1997. This was the first time a partnership of over 500 runs was recorded in Test cricket.
• He was the first Sri Lankan cricketer to score a Test triple century (300 runs or more). He was also the first Sri Lankan to score a triple century in first-class cricket.
• At one point in his career, Sanath Jayasuriya held the world records for the fastest 50, fastest 100, and fastest 150 in One Day International cricket.
• He is the only all-rounder to score over 1,000 runs and take more than 25 wickets in Cricket World Cup history. He also took 18 catches, the second most for any outfielder in World Cup matches.
• Jayasuriya is the first cricketer to score over 10,000 ODI runs with a career strike rate over 90.
• Among the 12 cricketers who have scored over 20,000 runs across all international formats, Sanath Jayasuriya has the highest strike rate.
• He is the first and only batsman in history to score two consecutive ODI scores above 150.
• Jayasuriya has won 58 Man of the Match awards in international cricket. This is the second most for any player after Sachin Tendulkar.
• He is the only all-rounder in list A cricket history to score over 15,000 runs and take over 400 wickets in his career.
• As an all-rounder, Jayasuriya scored 21,032 runs and took 440 wickets in his international cricket career. He also took 205 catches as an outfielder.
• In his entire professional cricket career (First-class, List A, and T20), Jayasuriya scored 31,576 runs and took 695 wickets. He also took 336 catches.
• When he retired, he held the records for the most runs scored by a Sri Lankan player in both Test and ODI cricket.

Awards

Jayasuriya has won many international awards during his 20-year cricket career. He is second only to Sachin Tendulkar for the number of Man of the Match awards in ODIs. Tendulkar has 62, and Jayasuriya has 47. He also won 11 ODI Man of the Series awards. In Test cricket, he won 4 Man of the Match awards and 1 Man of the Series award. He also has 5 T20I Man of the Match awards.

See also

In Spanish: Sanath Jayasuriya para niños

• List of international cricket centuries by Sanath Jayasuriya
• List of One Day International cricket records