CRICKETERS from Sri Lanka

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Sri Lankan Cricketers of all time. This list of famous Sri Lankan Cricketers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Muttiah Muralitharan (1972 - )

With an HPI of 30.02, Muttiah Muralitharan is the most famous Sri Lankan Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan (born 17 April 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 One Day International (ODI) wickets. As of 2024, he has taken more wickets in international cricket than any other bowler. Muralitharan was a part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Muralitharan's international career was beset by controversy over his bowling action. Due to an unusual hyperextension of his congenitally bent arm during delivery, his bowling action was called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community. After biomechanical analysis under simulated playing conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999. Muralitharan held the number one spot in the International Cricket Council's player rankings for Test bowlers for a record period of 1,711 days spanning 214 Test matches. He became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007. Muralitharan had previously held the record when he surpassed Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004, but he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was overtaken by Warne. Muralitharan took the wicket of Gautam Gambhir on 5 February 2009 in Colombo to surpass Wasim Akram's ODI record of 502 wickets. He retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket on 22 July 2010 from his final ball in his last Test match. Muralitharan was rated the greatest Test match bowler by Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack in 2002, and in 2017 was the first Sri Lankan cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He won the Ada Derana Sri Lankan of the Year award in 2017.

2. Sanath Jayasuriya (1969 - )

With an HPI of 27.63, Sanath Jayasuriya is the 2nd most famous Sri Lankan Cricketer.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (Sinhala: සනත් ජයසූරිය, Tamil: சனத் ஜெயசூர்யா; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever to play the game. A left arm opening batsman, an orthodox spinner and a dynamic fielder, Jayasuriya together with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana is credited for having revolutionized one-day international cricket with his 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 1996 Cricket World Cup. Under his captaincy Sri Lanka become joint champions along with India in the 2002 Champions Trophy. Considered one of the greatest attacking batsmen of all time, 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 score over 10,000 runs and capture more than 300 wickets in One Day International cricket and is also regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the history of limited-overs cricket. Jayasuriya created many world records during his career. He 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. Jayasuriya was also the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003. He is affectionately known as the Master Blaster (making him the third batting legend of cricket's history to receive the Master Blaster nickname, after Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies and Sachin Tendulkar of India). 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 at the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to the 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 for the 2015 Sri Lankan general election, though he won most votes from Matara district under UPFA in the 2010 Sri Lankan general election. He is currently not active in politics.

3. Kumar Sangakkara (1977 - )

With an HPI of 24.98, Kumar Sangakkara is the 3rd most famous Sri Lankan Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (Sinhala: කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර) born 27 October 1977 is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka in 134 Test matches from 2000 to 2015, including fifteen as captain. In first-class cricket, he played for Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1997–98 to 2013–14 and for Surrey County Cricket Club from 2015 to 2017. He also played for numerous franchise teams. He was born in Matale, Central Province. He was a part of the Sri Lankan squads which won the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy (jointly with India) and the 2014 T20 World Cup. Sangakkara played mostly as a wicket-keeper-batter and is generally regarded as one of the greatest players of this type in cricket history. He batted left-handed and, although he rarely bowled, was a right-arm off spinner. In all three forms of international cricket, Sangakkara is the second-highest run-scorer, having amassed a total of 28,016 including 63 centuries. Since retirement, he has worked as a commentator for Sky Sports and served as President of the MCC from October 2019 to October 2020. In January 2021, Sangakkara became the coach of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in June 2021, the second Sri Lankan player to be inducted after Muttiah Muralitharan.

4. Mahela Jayawardene (1977 - )

With an HPI of 22.33, Mahela Jayawardene is the 4th most famous Sri Lankan Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (Sinhala: දෙනගමගේ ප්‍රබෝත් මහේල ද සිල්වා ජයවර්ධන; born 27 May 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is the current consultant coach of the Sri Lankan national team and the head coach of the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen from Sri Lankan cricket. During the time of his captaincy Jayawardene led his national team to be the winners of the 2008 Asia Cup. Jayawardene was the first Sri Lankan in the history of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to score a century which he did with his 100 runs against Zimbabwe in the 2010 tournament. He made his Test cricket debut in August 1997 and his One Day International (ODI) debut the following season in January 1998. In 2006 along with his teammate Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene made the highest ever partnership in First-class cricket, scoring 624 runs for the third wicket in the first test match of Sri Lanka's home series against South Africa. He appeared in 652 international matches representing Sri Lanka in a career spanning for about 18 years. During his international career, he also formed a friendship and healthy rivalry with Sangakkara. Mahela is the first player in the history of Sri Lankan cricket to score over 10,000 Test runs and is also the second Sri Lankan player to score more than 10,000 runs in ODIs after Sanath Jayasuriya. Mahela Jayawardene currently serves as the Chairman of Sri Lanka National Sports Council. Jayawardene's highest test score, 374 against South Africa, is the highest score by a right-handed batsman in the history of Test cricket. Along with teammate Sangakkara, he has the most career partnership runs for the 3rd wicket in Tests, scoring 5890 runs surpassing the 5826 run record of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Jayawardene was a key member of the team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and was part of the team that made to the final of 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. In 2006, Jayawardene was named by the International Cricket Council as the best International captain of the year and was nominated in 2007 as the best Test cricket player of the year. He is also known for his fielding skills in the inner ring, with a report prepared by ESPNcricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the most run-outs in ODI cricket of any fielder, with the fifth highest run-out/match ratio in ODI's. Jayawardene also worked as an international TV commentator in the first test at Headingley on 19 May 2016 between England and Sri Lanka. Mahela Jayawardene holds the unique record of being the only player as of now to have scored a hundred in both a World Cup final and a World Cup semi-final. He is also the only player to have scored a century in a World Cup final in a losing cause. He also serves as a board member in several unlisted public limited companies in Sri Lanka. He has been a vocal critic of Sri Lanka Cricket over the years especially after 2015 where the national side has suffered a significant decline. In November 2021, he was inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He became only the third Sri Lankan to be inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame after Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara.

5. Lasith Malinga (1983 - )

With an HPI of 21.54, Lasith Malinga is the 5th most famous Sri Lankan Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Separamadu Lasith Malinga (Sinhala: සෙපරමාදු ලසිත් මාලිංග;Tamil: லசித் மாலிங்க;born 28 August 1983) is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Sri Lankan limited overs bowlers of all time. Playing as a right-arm fast bowler, Malinga was commonly used as a specialist death bowler, and captained the Sri Lanka national cricket team to the 2014 T20 World Cup title. He was nicknamed "Slinga Malinga" due to his distinctive round-arm action, sometimes referred to as a sling action. Malinga announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 14 September 2021 and migrated to Melbourne. Malinga's unorthodox action and dipping slower ball yorkers are credited with much of his success. He changed the dynamics and landscape of death bowling in limited overs cricket through his technique and approach. Malinga is known for his ability to take wickets on consecutive balls, often through bowling in-swinging yorkers: he is the only bowler in the world to have two World Cup hat-tricks, the first bowler to take a double hat-trick, the only bowler to take 4 wickets in 4 balls twice in international cricket, the only bowler to have taken three hat-tricks in ODIs and only bowler to have two double hat-tricks. He is also the first bowler to take five hat-tricks across all formats of international cricket, and holds the record for most hat-tricks in international cricket. On 22 April 2011, he announced his retirement from Test cricket. He has been named as the official event ambassador for the World Twenty20 Championships by ICC. On 26 July 2019, he retired from One Day International cricket after the first ODI against Bangladesh. In September 2019, during the series against New Zealand, Malinga became the first bowler to take 100 wickets in Twenty20 International cricket. Malinga took a hat-trick to become the first bowler to claim two T20I hat-tricks, and four wickets in four balls, in the third over of his spell, while becoming the second bowler in the world to take four wickets in four consecutive balls in T20I history after Rashid Khan during the process. In January 2021, he retired from T20 franchise cricket. In September 2021, Malinga announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

6. Tillakaratne Dilshan (1976 - )

With an HPI of 20.13, Tillakaratne Dilshan is the 6th most famous Sri Lankan Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan (Sinhala: තිලකරත්න මුදියන්සේලාගේ ඩිල්ෂාන්; born 14 October 1976), commonly known as TM Dilshan (Sinhala pronunciation: [tilakaratna dilṣān]) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is often regarded as the best rated Sri Lankan player in run-chases in ODI history and one of the most innovative players of all time.He had a unique moustache style which gives him a remarkable personality.He is the top run scorer in 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup with 500 runs, and scored century against England in semi final of ICC 2011 world cup. Dilshan is considered to be a rare example of a cricketer with notable skills in all aspects of the game, who can bat, bowl, field and keep wicket. He is an aggressive right-hand batsman who invented the scoop, which has come to be known as the Dilscoop, a shot that hits the ball over the keeper. Apart from being an opening batsman, he is also a capable off-break bowler. Energetic in the field, he usually fielded at the point region. He was part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. Dilshan made his Test and ODI debut during the Sri Lankan cricket team's tour to Zimbabwe in 1999. He is also the second cap for Sri Lanka in Twenty20 Internationals. He is the first cricketer in the history of the game to score hundreds in all formats as a captain. Dilshan won the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award at the 2009 ICC Awards for his 96 off 57 ball shots against West Indies in the semi-final of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England. He also won the man of the series trophy for his individual batting performances in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. He was also a key member of the team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and was part of the team that made the finals of 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. He is the fourth Sri Lankan, and eleventh player overall to score 10,000 ODI runs. Being the third overall and first Sri Lankan to score 1,500 runs in Twenty20 Internationals, he is also the first player to hit 200 fours in T20Is. Dilshan scored 1000 or more ODI runs in a calendar year four times and never failed to amass fewer than 800 runs in any calendar year between 2009 and 2015. His innings of 104 not out is currently the highest individual T20 score made by a Sri Lankan in the format. Dilshan was under-estimated in the cricket world as an ordinary player when he batted at number 6 and 7, unlike his revered teammates Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. When he gained the opening batting position, Dilshan became one of the finest cricketers in the world and a legend in modern cricketing history. His quick progression can be seen in his stats: after he moved to the opening position, he scored 21 ODI centuries and all his Test and T20I centuries. In August 2016, Dilshan announced that he would retire from both ODI and T20I cricket at the end of the series against Australia. He retired from ODI cricket on 28 August 2016 and from T20I cricket on 9 September 2016.