38 Facts About Thilan Samaraweera

Thilan Thusara Samaraweera is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer.

Thilan Samaraweera retired after over 80 matches with a batting average over 48 in Test cricket.

Thilan Samaraweera was a part of the Sri Lankan squad which finished as runners-up at the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Thilan Samaraweera born in Colombo and had his education at Ananda College, Colombo.

Thilan Samaraweera is married to Erandathie Samaraweera and has two daughters: Osuni and Sidhya.

Thilan Samaraweera played school cricket for Ananda College and emerged as a prolific batsman in inter-school competitions.

Thilan Samaraweera initially was a frontline spinner at school level.

Thilan Samaraweera spearheaded the bowling attack of Ananda capturing 72 wickets in 1984 and 64 wickets in 1985 season.

Thilan Samaraweera amassed 1000 runs in 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Thilan Samaraweera won the Sri Lankan Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1994 and 1995.

Thilan Samaraweera was drafted to the Kandurata Warriors side ahead of the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League in 2012.

Thilan Samaraweera signed with Worcestershire County Cricket Club for the 2013 County Championship.

Thilan Samaraweera managed a handful of ODI games in 1998 but did not play Test cricket until August 2001.

Thilan Samaraweera made his ODI debut against India on 6 November 1998 but he was not given the opportunity to bat in the middle order on his ODI debut as he was listed as no 10 batsman.

Thilan Samaraweera continued to star with the bat by scoring another two centuries in his next five Tests, all on his home ground, the SSC in Colombo.

Thilan Samaraweera emerged as a frontline batsman in international arena at a time when many Sri Lankan batsmen were nearing the end of their prime.

Thilan Samaraweera's off-spin has been rarely called upon by his captain but when he comes on he has earned a reputation as a partnership breaker.

Thilan Samaraweera was made captain of Sri Lanka A before earning a recall for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane.

Thilan Samaraweera too has the record for the highest individual score for Sri Lanka when batting at number 5 position in tests when he scored 231 against Pakistan.

Thilan Samaraweera ended the 2009 season on a high note with 1234 runs in 11 test matches at an average of 72.58.

Thilan Samaraweera scored his next ODI century against India during a 50 over Tri-nation series in Bangladesh in 2010.

Thilan Samaraweera was often criticised of being a backyard bully mostly piling up runs in subcontinent amassing 4275 runs in 60 tests in Asia at an average of 54.11 and his record outside Asia was pity average scoring 1187 runs at an average of 35.96 in 21 tests.

Thilan Samaraweera was left out of the squad to tour South Africa, but was given a late call-up to cover for Mahela Jayawardene due to a knee injury.

Thilan Samaraweera scored two centuries in the three-Test series, and moved into the top ten of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in his career.

Thilan Samaraweera was selected to the Sri Lankan team for the 2011 Cricket World Cup which was his first and only World Cup appearance.

Thilan Samaraweera appeared in the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and he played a crucial role by adding 57 runs for the fourth wicket with Mahela Jayawardene.

Thilan Samaraweera holds the record for scoring the most runs in ODI cricket with only scoring centuries without even dismissed between 50 and 99, he never had scores of unbeaten innings between 50 and 99.

Thilan Samaraweera has scored 2 ODI hundreds without a single ODI fifty.

Thilan Samaraweera ended his ODI career without hitting a six despite two centuries to his name.

Thilan Samaraweera suffered a major injury on his left thigh as a bullet fired by a terrorist pierced through his knee well inside his body by 12 inches.

Thilan Samaraweera then underwent surgery, remained at hospital for two weeks and took brief break from cricket for roughly 4 months.

Thilan Samaraweera revealed that he was still haunted by the 2009 Lahore terrorist attack.

Thilan Samaraweera returned to cricket in June 2009 following his surgery.

Thilan Samaraweera was believed to have undergone 2 and half hours operation at the Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo and fears were raised that he could be forced to retire from international cricket.

Thilan Samaraweera became the batting consultant for Bangladesh in September 2016 ahead of the Bangladesh's home Test series against England.

Thilan Samaraweera was employed by Cricket Australia as a consultant coach for Australian team for the test tour of Sri Lanka.

Thilan Samaraweera served as batting consultant for Bangladesh until the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and BCB did not extend the contract after the Champions Trophy.

Thilan Samaraweera was appointed as the fielding coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018 for the Indian Premier League.