46 Facts About Sanath Jayasuriya

1. Sanath Jayasuriya has 323 wickets in his 445 ODI long career whereas Warney finished his illustrious career with 293 wickets in 194 matches.

2. Sanath Jayasuriya hit 270 sixes and Afridi hit 334 sixes up to date.

3. Sanath Jayasuriya was perhaps the most destructive batsmen Sri Lanka has ever seen.

4. Sanath Jayasuriya is credited as having revolutionized One Day International cricket with his explosive batting Jayasuriya was an all-rounder, who had an international cricket career that spread over two decades.

5. Sanath Jayasuriya was charged for failing to cooperate with a match-fixing probe and concealing information.

6. In May 2012, Sanath Jayasuriya signed a contract to participate as a contestant on 5th season of the Indian celebrity dance show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

7. Sanath Jayasuriya has 5 T20I Man of the Match awards as well.

8. Sanath Jayasuriya is second only to Sachin Tendulkar by the number of Man of the match awards for ODIs, where Tendulkar has 62 Man of the Match awards, and Jayasuriya has 47 of them.

9. Sanath Jayasuriya has influenced for many international awards in his 20 years of cricketing career.

10. Sanath Jayasuriya holds the record of fourth fastest 150 in one day internationals.

11. Sanath Jayasuriya currently holds the fourth place for most centuries in a career, behind Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli (35 ODI centuries) and Ricky Ponting (30 centuries).

12. Sanath Jayasuriya went on to score his first century in 1994 against New Zealand.

13. Sanath Jayasuriya made his ODI debut in 1989, and started playing as an opening batsman in 1993.

14. Sanath Jayasuriya has scored two double centuries; 213 against England and 253 against Pakistan.

15. Sanath Jayasuriya was in office until the Parliament dissolved on 26 June 2015.

16. Sanath Jayasuriya resigned from Chief Selector post with his members on 3 April 2015.

17. Sanath Jayasuriya continued to play cricket after he has secured the most number of preferential votes from the Matara District by obtaining 74,352 votes.

18. Sanath Jayasuriya entered politics in February 2010 as a candidate for Matara District.

19. On 11 April 2016, Sanath Jayasuriya was appointed back again to the post of chairman of selectors.

20. Sanath Jayasuriya was appointed as the chairman of selectors of national cricket team on 28 January 2013 by sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.

21. Sanath Jayasuriya was a skillful infielder, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the seventh highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the eleventh highest success rate.

22. Sanath Jayasuriya regularly helped to decrease the workloads of contemporary Sri Lankan strike bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

23. Sanath Jayasuriya was a very useful all-rounder with a good batting average in both Test cricket and One Day Internationals, and had an excellent batting strike rate in One Day Internationals.

24. Sanath Jayasuriya led Sri Lanka to the knock-out stage of the 2003 cricket world cup, but stepped down from the captaincy after the loss to Australia in the semi final.

25. Sanath Jayasuriya served as the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team in 38 test matches and 117 one day internationals from 1999 to 2003.

26. Sanath Jayasuriya was chosen as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1996 and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997.

27. At the age of 42, Sanath Jayasuriya played for the Ruhuna Rhinos in the qualifying round of the 2011 Champions League.

28. Sanath Jayasuriya achieved two half centuries in the group stages against New Zealand and Kenya in this tournament.

29. Sanath Jayasuriya ultimately shaped Sri Lanka's title victory with a blistering hundred under pressure.

30. Sanath Jayasuriya scored 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries in the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in the West Indies.

31. Sanath Jayasuriya has 28 centuries, the fourth highest in ODIs.

32. Sanath Jayasuriya has held the world record for most ODI sixes, which was surpassed by Shahid Afridi during the 2010 Asia Cup match against Bangladesh.

33. Sanath Jayasuriya was the previous record-holder for the fastest century, before losing that to Shahid Afridi's 37 ball century.

34. Sanath Jayasuriya held the record for the highest Test score made by a Sri Lankan, 340 against India in 1997.

35. Sanath 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.

36. Sanath Jayasuriya took 440 wickets altogether in international cricket with six 5 wicket hauls.

37. Sanath Jayasuriya 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-round contributions.

38. Sanath Jayasuriya 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.

39. Sanath Jayasuriya was picked as the 'Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' in the Outstation Segment in 1988.

40. Sanath Jayasuriya 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.

41. Sanath Jayasuriya was born in the Southern Sri Lankan city of Matara, to the family of Dunstan and Breeda Jayasuriya.

42. Sanath Jayasuriya topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes.

43. Sanath Jayasuriya retired from Test cricket in December 2007 and from limited overs cricket in June 2011.

44. Sanath Jayasuriya was the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003.

45. Sanath 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.

46. Sanath Jayasuriya is credited for having revolutionized one-day international cricket with his explosive batting with Romesh Kaluwitharana in 1996, which initiated the hard-hitting modern day batting strategy of all nations.