Aravinda de Silva carried Sri Lanka from underdogs to 1996 world champions
No other player has made a hundred and taken three or more wickets in a World Cup final. Aravinda de Silva did both in the 1996 showpiece against Australia, removing Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting, holding two catches and then finishing unbeaten on 107 as Sri Lanka won by seven wickets.
Born on 17 October 1965 and schooled in Colombo, de Silva first played Test cricket at Lord's in August 1984. Early on he was thrilling but erratic, nicknamed Mad Max for getting out to reckless strokes, and he defended his attacking approach as simply his natural game. A summer with Kent in 1995, signed at short notice to replace Carl Hooper, changed everything: he made 1,661 championship runs at 59.32, with six hundreds and the season's top score of 255, even as Kent finished bottom.
The 1996 World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, showed his range. He hit 91 against Zimbabwe and 145 off 115 balls against Kenya, then a Sri Lankan ODI record. In the Calcutta semi-final, with both openers gone for a single run, his 66 from 47 balls rescued the innings; India then collapsed, the crowd set fire to seats, and the referee Clive Lloyd awarded Sri Lanka the match. Wisden later rated his final innings the eighth greatest batting display in ODI history.
In April 1997 he became the first player to score two unbeaten centuries in one Test, against Pakistan in Colombo, having made 168 in the previous Test, three hundreds inside eight days. His highest Test score, 267, came at Wellington's Basin Reserve in 1991, and in his final Test in 2002 he made a double century and took a wicket with his last ball. He retired after the 2003 World Cup.
Later he twice chaired Sri Lanka's selectors. Match-fixing allegations linked to a Mumbai bookmaker were raised against him and Arjuna Ranatunga; he denied them, and a 2001 inquiry cleared both. The ICC inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2023, the fourth Sri Lankan so honoured.
Source: Aravinda de Silva
