Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (, ; born 30 June 1969), is a Sri Lankan former cricketer, captain, cricket administrator and coach. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest all rounders ever to play in ODI cricket.Sanath Jayasuriya: Sri Lanka's humble cricketing hero. CNN TalkAsia. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2015.Sanath Jayasuriya – the entertainer. ESPNcricinfo. 25 December 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2015. A left arm orthodox spinner, left-handed batter and a dynamic fielder, Jayasuriya and his opening batting partner Romesh Kaluwitharana are credited for revolutionizing one-day international cricket with explosive batting in the mid-1990s, which initiated the hard-hitting modern-day batting strategy of all nations. He was a key member of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Under his captaincy Sri Lanka became joint champions along with India in the 2002 Champions Trophy. He is the former head coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team.
Considered one of the greatest attacking batsman, Jayasuriya is well known for his powerful striking and match-winning all-round performances in all formats of the game. Jayasuriya was an all-rounder, who had an international cricket career that spread over two decades. He is the only player to achieve the all rounder double of scoring over 10,000 runs and capturing more than 300 wickets in a single format of international cricket. Jayasuriya created many world records during his career.
Jayasuriya was named the Most Valuable Player of 1996 Cricket World Cup and Wisden Cricketers' Almanack broke an age-old tradition by naming him one of Five Cricketers' of the Year 1997 despite not playing the previous season in England. "The success of Sanath Jayasuriya in inspiring Sri Lanka to World Cup victory in March 1996 also inspired a change of policy: he was chosen as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year even though he did not play in the English season." Jayasuriya was also the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003. He was also a key member of the team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup and was part of the team that made the finals of 2007 Cricket World Cup and 2009 ICC World Twenty20. He retired from Test cricket in December 2007 and from limited-overs cricket in June 2011. On 28 January 2013, Sri Lanka Cricket appointed him as the chairman of the cricket selection committee. Sri Lanka won the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2014, during his tenure as the chief selector.
Jayasuriya ran for public office in the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to parliament from his native Matara District. He topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes. He served as the deputy minister of Postal services in the former UPFA government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, and later as the Deputy Minister of Local Government & Rural Development under president Maithripala Sirisena. Jayasuriya did not contest in the 2015 general election and is currently not active in politics.
Early life and career Sanath Jayasuriya was born in the Southern Sri Lankan city of Matara, to the family of Dunstan and Breeda Jayasuriya. He has an elder brother, Chandana Jayasuriya. He was educated at St. Servatius' College, Matara, where his cricketing talents were nourished by his school principal, G.L. Galappathy, and cricket coach, Lionel Wagasinghe. He excelled in cricket while at St. Servatius College, Matara and captained the college cricket team at the annual St. Thomas'–St. Servatius Cricket Encounter in 1988. Jayasuriya was picked as the 'Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' in the Outstation Segment in 1988. He also received the awards for the 'Best Batsman' and 'Best All-rounder' in the Outstation Segment at the Observer School Cricket Awards ceremony in the same year. Jayasuriya represented Sri Lanka in the inaugural ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup which was held in Australia in 1988 and was subsequently selected for a tour in Pakistan a few months later with the Sri Lanka 'B' team, where he made two unbeaten double centuries in his debut first class series. Shortly afterward he was drafted into the national team for the tour to Australia in 1989–90. He made his One Day International debut against Australia at Melbourne on Boxing Day of 1989 and his Test debut against New Zealand at Hamilton in February 1991.
Style and international career Batting style Along with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya revolutionized One Day International batting with his aggressive tactics during the 1996 Cricket World Cup, a strategy they first tried on the preceding tour of Australia. The tactic used was to take advantage of the early fielding restrictions by smashing the opening bowlers to all parts of the cricket ground, particularly by lofting their deliveries over the mandatory infielders, rather than the established tactic of building up momentum gradually. This was a novel but potentially match-winning tactic at that time, and Sri Lanka, who had previously never made it out of the preliminary rounds, went on to win the World Cup without a single defeat. Their new gameplan is now the standard opening batting strategy in limited-overs cricket for the modern era. Glenn McGrath cited Jayasuriya in his XI of toughest batsmen, noting "it is always a massive compliment to someone to say they changed the game, and his storming innings in the 1996 World Cup changed everyone's thinking about how to start innings."
Jayasuriya is known for both cuts and pulls along with his trademark shot, a lofted cut over point. He was one of the key players in Sri Lanka's victory in the 1996 Cricket World Cup, where he was adjudged Man of the Tournament in recognition of his all-around contributions. His philosophy towards batting is summarized by an all-aggression approach and over the years he has dominated almost every one-day bowling combination that he has faced at one stage or another. This is because of his ability to make huge match-winning contributions at a rapid pace once he gets in, he holds the record for the second-highest number of one day centuries and has scored the 4th most 150+ scores (4 scores) jointly with Chris Gayle and Hashim Amla. Only Rohit Sharma, David Warner and Sachin Tendulkar have more 150+ scores than him, (Rohit Sharma has the most 150+ scores at 7). His devastating performances have ensured that Sri Lanka has won almost over 75% of the matches that he scored over 50 runs in limited-overs cricket. When asked in an interview who are the most challenging bowlers he had faced in the game, he named in the order Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose.
Bowling style Jayasuriya was a left-arm orthodox spin bowler known for quickly getting through his overs. Although a spinner, he was used to bowling faster balls and yorkers with quick arm action which gained him success as a bowler. He took 440 wickets altogether in international cricket with six 5 wicket hauls. His best bowling performance in an innings in international cricket is 6 for 29, which he took against England in an ODI in 1993. It was the best bowling performance by a Sri Lankan in ODIs until Muttiah Muralitharan broke the record in 2000. Jayasuriya's best match figures in test cricket came in 2001/2002 season when he took 9 for 74 against Zimbabwe.
One of Jayasuriya's memorable bowling performances came in the semi-final of 1996 Cricket World Cup, where he took three wickets for just 12 runs in seven overs. It was Jayasuriya who took the vital wicket of Sachin Tendulkar and broke his crucial partnership with Sanjay Manjrekar, which was taking the game away from Sri Lankans at one stage. Jayasuriya was the most successful bowler for Sri Lanka during the knockout stage of 1996 cricket World Cup where he took 6 wickets in three games. As an all-rounder, he took 27 wickets in Cricket world cups altogether including 10 wickets he took in 2003 edition.
Test career Sanath Jayasuriya held the record for the highest Test score made by a Sri Lankan, 340 against India in 1997. This effort was part of a second-wicket partnership with Roshan Mahanama that set the then all-time record for any partnership in Test history, with 576 runs. Both records were surpassed in July 2006 when fellow Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene scored 374 as part of a 624-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara against South Africa. On 20 September 2005, during the second Test of the home series against Bangladesh, Jayasuriya became the first Sri Lankan to play 100 Tests, and the 33rd Test cricketer to achieve this feat.
Jayasuriya announced his intention to retire from Test cricket following the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka in April 2006. He reversed his decision soon after, however, joining the Sri Lankan cricket team in England in May 2006. Missing the first two Tests, Jayasuriya returned in the Third Test at Trent Bridge.
After scoring 78 runs on day three of the first Test against England in Kandy in 2007, he announced he was to retire from Test cricket at the end of the match. In that innings he hit six fours in one over against James Anderson.
One Day International career 2009–2010
Jayasuriya held the records for the fastest fifty (against Pakistan 17 balls), fastest 100 for Sri Lanka (against Pakistan 48 balls) and fastest 150 (against England in 95 balls) in ODI cricket. His fastest 50 stayed 19 years, where his half-century is regarded as the best because he achieved this feat in an era where no fielding restrictions and power plays are available. It took 19 years to surpass the fastest 50 with all limited over new restrictions and other fielding restrictions. However, he subsequently lost the fastest fifty to AB de Villiers. Jayasuriya is the only player of the ODI history to have scored two consecutive 150+ scores.
Jayasuriya's highest ODI score is 189 runs, scored against India in Sharjah in 2000. It remained as the highest ODI score by a Sri Lankan and the third-highest in ODI history at that time. Currently the score is 11th highest ODI score of all time and highest by a Sri Lankan. In 2024, Pathum Nissanka made unbeaten 210* runs against Afghanistan, breaking Jayasuriya's 24-year-old record.
Jayasuriya's results in international matches MatchesWonLostDrawnTiedNo resultTest 1104035350–ODI 445233193–316T20I 311912–––
Jayasuriya was the previous record-holder for the fastest century (off 48 balls), before losing that to Shahid Afridi's 37 ball century. This is cited as the first ever fastest century scored in less than 50 balls in world cricket. The record was then broken by Corey Anderson of New Zealand (36 balls), which is currently held by AB de Villiers of South Africa with 31 ball century. He has also held the world record for most ODI sixes (270 in 445 ODIs), which was surpassed by Shahid Afridi during the 2010 Asia Cup match against Bangladesh. He became the fourth batsman to score more than 10,000 runs and the second batsman to score more than 12,000, and 13,000 runs in the history of ODIs. He also has 28 centuries, the fourth-highest in ODIs. He held the record of scoring most runs in an ODI over (30; he has achieved this twice), and the first batsman to score over 30 in an over. This record is now held by South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs (36 runs in an over).
During the one-day Natwest series in May 2006 in England, he scored two centuries, including scoring 152 off 99 balls in the final match. In that innings, he and Upul Tharanga (109) put on 286 runs for the first wicket, a new record. Jayasuriya's batting display earned him the Man of the Series award as Sri Lanka whitewashed England for the first time in their home soil by winning the series 5–0.