Full Name : Thilan Thusara Samaraweera
Date of Birth : 21st September 1976
Place of Birth : Colombo, Sri Lanka
Batting Style : Right-Handed
Bowling Style : Right-Arm Off Break
Role : Batsman
Test Debut (cap 86) : 29th August 2001 v India
ODI Debut (cap 97) : 6th November 1998 v India
Thilan Thusara Samaraweera is a Sri Lankan cricketer, born September 22, 1976 in Colombo. Samaraweera plays international cricket for Sri Lanka and is in the side primarily for his solid right-handed batting but is also a capable off spinner.
Personal Life
Thilan Samaraweera born in Colombo and had his education at Ananda College, Colombo. Thilan Samaraweera is married and has 2 children. Thilan Samaraweera brother, Dulip Samaraweera is also a Test cricket player played in seven Tests from 1993 to 1995.
International Career
Samaraweera started his career as an off spinner who could bat a bit and could not find a way into the side due to the emergence of Muttiah Muralitharan. Thilan Samaraweera managed a handful of ODI games in 1998 but did not play Test cricket until August 2001. Having worked on his batting considerably he got due reward by scoring century on debut against a strong Indian side helping Sri Lanka to win the series 2-1. 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. This stunning start to international cricket cemented his spot in the middle order, a spot which had holes to fill with the retirements of Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillakaratne.
Thilan Samaraweera off-spin has been rarely called upon by his captain but when he comes on he has earned a reputation as a partnership breaker.
After a poor Test series in England in which he failed to reach double figures in any of his four innings, he was dropped from the side. Thilan Samaraweera was made captain of Sri Lanka A before earning a recall for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane. Thilan Samaraweera scored 13 and 20 and was promptly dropped when Kumar Sangakkara returned to the side for the second game in Hobart. This was followed by his non-inclusion in the squad to play England in the first Test in Kandy.
Samaraweera was included in the Sri Lankan team to play the Test series in Pakistan in February - March 2009. This series was conducted after the Indian team withdrew from a scheduled series in Pakistan, following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Samaraweera started off the series in superb form, hitting consecutive double centuries – 231 in the first Test in Karachi and 214 in the second Test in Lahore.
In February 2009, he shared a record-breaking partnership of 437 with Mahela Jayawardene. This is a world record for 4th wicket in Test cricket. The previous Test record was held by an English pair—Peter May and Colin Cowdrey—who put on 411 against West Indies at Birmingham in May 1957.
In September 2009, he got his maiden ODI century against New Zealand national cricket team at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, almost eleven years after his ODI debut.
In 2011, after poor form with the bat during during a home series against Australia, he was dropped from Sri Lanka's team for the series against Pakistan. Thilan Samaraweera was also 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.
Test Centuries
The following table illustrates a summary of the Test centuries scored by Thilan Samaraweera
In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career
Test Centuries of Thilan Samaraweera
No. Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
1 103* 1 Zimbabwe Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2001
2 123* 6 Zimbabwe Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2001
3 142 14 England Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2003
4 100 23 Pakistan Faisalabad, Pakistan Iqbal Stadium 2004
5 138 30 Bangladesh Colombo, Sri Lanka P. Saravanamuttu Stadium 2005
6 125 42 West Indies Port of Spain, West Indies Queen's Park Oval 2008
7 127 43 India Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2008
8 231 47 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 2009
9 214 48 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2009
10 159 53 New Zealand Galle, Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium 2009
11 143 54 New Zealand Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2009
12 137* 60 India Colombo, Sri Lanka P. Saravanamuttu Stadium 2010
13 102 70 South Africa Durban, South Africa Kingsmead Cricket Ground 2011
14 115* 71 South Africa Cape Town, South Africa Newlands 2012
ODI Centuries
The following table illustrates a summary of the ODI centuries scored by Thilan Samaraweera
ODI centuries of Thilan Samaraweera
No. Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
1 104 22 New Zealand Colombo, Sri Lanka R. Premadasa Stadium 2009
2 105* 30 India Dhaka, Bangladesh Shere Bangla National Stadium 2010
Lahore attack Samaraweera, along with five other Sri Lankan cricketers, were injured in the March 3, 2009 attack on the bus that carried the Sri Lankan cricketers to the Gaddafi Stadium. Thilan Samaraweera was hospitalised with a thigh injury Samaraweera was the most seriously injured player amongst them. Six policemen that guarded the bus and two civilians were killed in the attack.
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