ICC Hall Of Fame: List Of Sri Lankan Cricketers

The legendary spinner of Sri Lanka with exactly 800 wickets in Tests, while in ODIs, he also holds the record for most wickets, with 534 wickets. Muttiah Muralitharan was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in 2002. 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 holds the world record for the most wickets in both Tests and ODIs. Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the history of the game and held the number one spot in the ICC Test bowling rankings for a record period of 1,711 days spanning 214 Test matches.

Kumar Sangakkara (Inducted: 2021 | Career: 2000 – 2015)

Sangakkara had a 15-year international career behind the stumps. A T20 World Cup winner, two-time Cricket World Cup runner-up, and frequently No.1 in the Test batting rankings, Sangakkara ruled in every format.

As a keeper, he completed 678 dismissals for Sri Lanka, including a world best 482 in ODIs, but he was brilliant with the bat as well, popularly known for playing a beautiful cover drive.

Proficient on both the front and backfoot, Sangakkara’s Test average of 57.40 was the best of any player to score more than 10,000 runs, and he was the quickest player to reach the milestone in terms of innings played. With his incredible consistency, he made 38 Test centuries, including 11 double-centuries. Only Don Bradman passed 200 more often.

In 2014, he set a record for the most international runs in a calendar year, and in 2015, his final year for Sri Lanka, he scored four consecutive ODI tons. Not only is that the most consecutive tons in ODI history, but he did it at a World Cup.

Mahela Jayawardene (Inducted: 2021 | Career: 1997 – 2015)

Sri Lanka’s star batter Mahela Jayawardene set new standards in both Test and white-ball cricket, playing 652 matches for his country in a career of 18 years. He made his debut for Sri Lanka in a Test against India in 1997.

His international career helped Sri Lanka establish itself as a world power in the sport. With more than 10,000 runs in Test and ODI cricket, Jayawardena stands among the finest players to ever come from Sri Lanka.

Aravinda De Silva (Inducted: 2023 | Career: 1984 – 2003) 

De Silva had a 19-year international career for Sri Lanka, notably playing a crucial role in the historic victory at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 1996.  De Silva made his Test debut at Lord’s in 1984 and scored 75 as Sri Lanka recorded the first Test win in their history a year later, defeating India at Colombo.

A first Test century followed against a Pakistan attack of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, and Abdul Qadir at Faisalabad the following month, and in 1991, he struck a then-national record individual score of 267 against New Zealand at Wellington.

The all-rounder played a prominent role in Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning campaign in 1996, and his contributions during a memorable Final against Australia in Lahore are written in cricket folklore.

De Silva took three key wickets with his off-spin to restrict Australia’s score, before scoring an unbeaten 107 to help Sri Lanka get a shot at their first title.

He was the first to score a century and take three wickets in the same World Cup match and is still the only one to do so in a Final. He signed off from Test cricket in 2002 with a double-century in his final innings and retired from all international cricket after the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2003.

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