Aravinda de Silva

Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, who is considered one of the finest batsmen produced by the country. He is also regarded as one of the most elegant batsman in his generation, and to date is the only player to make a hundred and take 3 or more wickets in a world cup final. He was the head of the national selection committee briefly before stepping down after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

One of the game's best entertainers, DE Silva possessed the strengths of many of the tallest short run-scorers: runnable technique, strong at cutting and hooking, an unrepentant attacker. His record is unrivaled among countrymen, his place in history secure after a match-winning century in a World Cup final. He stands 5ft 3 1/2in and arguably there has not been a better smaller player. His enthusiasm was amazing: he was a virtual ever-present in the Sri Lanka side and also played first-class and club cricket in England, South Africa and Australia. His international career ended with the 2003 World Cup, where he batted with all the verve and panache of old, and bowled his offspinners cannily. Sri Lanka's cricket authorities ensured that his wealth of cricketing experience would not go waste, appointing him a national selector. His other main interests are cakes and cars (usually fast ones).  

De Silva made his Test match debut in 1984 at Lord's against England. During the early part of his career he was known as a dashing but inconsistent batsman - he was given the nickname "Mad Max" for his tendency to get out to rash shots. He later commented on his aggressive batting style: "That's my natural game - I don't want to change because I feel confident playing that way. If someone is capable of dominating the bowling, they should do it. It's the way I've been playing since I was a youngster." But a successful season playing first-class cricket for the English county Kent in 1995 marked a turning point in his career. De Silva was instrumental in Sri Lanka's triumph in the 1996 Cricket World Cup where his unbeaten century and three wickets earned him the Man of the Match award in the final against Australia. His other notable achievements include scoring a century in each innings of a Test match on two separate occasions (only bettered by India's Sunil Gavaskar and Australia's Ricky Ponting, who each performed this feat three times). One of these doubles was 138 and 105, both undismissed, against Pakistan at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club in April 1997. This made him the first, and so far only, player to score two not out centuries in the same Test match. As he had scored 168 in the second innings of the previous Test, he posted three hundreds in eight days. He finished the year with 1220 runs at 76.25.