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Saturday 5 October 2013

Mahela Jayawardene

Mahela Jayawardene Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Full name Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene

Born May 27, 1977, Colombo

Major teams Sri Lanka, Asia XI, Asia XI, Kings XI Punjab, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Sinhalese Sports Club, Wayamba

Playing role Batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium

Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene

A prolific, elegant and utterly classy batsman with a huge appetite for runs, and a calm yet authoritative captain - those are the qualities that best describe Mahela Jayawardene. His sheer quality as a batsman was never in doubt even when he just entered the international scene, but for Jayawardene the biggest challenge has been to justify all the early hype. With a combined Test and ODI tally in excess of 17,000 - and a captaincy stint that included a World Cup final appearance - it can safely be said that he has met that challenge more than adequately.

Blessed with excellent hand-eye coordination and a fine technique, Jayawardene scores his runs all around the wicket. Among his favourite strokes are the languid cover-drive - often with minimal footwork but precise placement and timing - and the wristy flick off his legs, but there are several others he plays with equal felicity. The most memorable are the cuts and dabs he plays behind the stumps, mostly off spinners, but also against quick bowling, when bat makes contact with ball delightfully late. For most batsmen it would be a high-risk shot, but Jayawardene pulls it off with remarkable consistency. Apart from his artistry, what stands out about his batting is his hunger for big scores, most apparent in his record 624-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara, but also in the regularity with which he notches up Test double hundreds. And his century against Zimbabwe in the World Twenty20 in 2010 was a shining example of traditional methods succeeding in a new format.

In the second half of his career, Jayawardene grew beyond the classy batsman, into an astute captain who read the game well and wasn't afraid to take risks. Under him, Sri Lanka shed their diffident approach, winning Tests in England and New Zealand, and - in what was Jayawardene's greatest achievement as captain - reached the final of the 2007 World Cup. He was also one of the few who timed his exit from captaincy well, quitting in February 2009 after the ODI series defeat against India to allow Sangakkara, his successor, enough time to prepare for the 2011 World Cup.

One of the genuine nice guys around in international cricket, Jayawardene has also won a lot of admiration for his contributions to the HOPE cancer project.