Thilan Samaraweera: 22 facts about the gritty Lankan who braved a terrorist attack

Thilan Samaraweera will probably be remembered as the man shot by terrorists in an act of cowardice.

Born September 22, 1976, Thilan Samaraweera will probably be remembered as the man shot by terrorists in an act of cowardice. He encountered this terror when he was at the peak of his abilities. Not exactly a cricketer who will compel you to come to the stadium, Thilan was effective enough to get the numbers for the cause. The gritty customer has featured in 81 Tests amassing 5,462 runs at an impressive average of 48.76. He has not been as influential in the shorter format. From 53 One-Day Internationals, he returned a poor average of 27.80. On his birthday, Ankit Banerjee takes you on a drive to give you a proper insight of a cricketer with undying courage.

 

1.  Cricket in blood

His brother Duleep Samaraweera played cricket for Sri Lanka from 1993 to 95; his brother-in-law Bathiya Perera also represented the Sri Lanka A.

 

2.  Father

Samaraweera is a very composed, responsible family man. His family includes his wife and two adorable children.

 

 

3.  Education

The Colombo-born has a rich educational background. He is an alumnus of the iconic Ananda College in Colombo.

 

 

4.  Replacing Mad-Max

In 2001, when Sri Lanka was going through somewhat of a transition, Aravinda de Silva made way for Samaraweera.

 

5.  Dreams do come true

He debuted in Tests in the year 2001 against India at SSC and came good with 103 not out. Prior to this he had played a handful of ODIs.

 

 

6.  English call

Thilan had a decent stint for Worcestershire. His 144 not out against Leicestershire in 2013 is one of his stand out knocks.

 

 

7.  Economic

His wickets tally may not be as impressive, but he was an effective all-rounder who could play a supporting role with the ball by being economical. At an age and era when six an over is just about par, he managed an economy rate of  3.11 in Tests and 4.63 in ODIs.

 

8.  Murali-barrier

This may come as interesting: Thilan had started off as an off-spinner but could not make a cut in the XI because of Muttiah Muralitharan. This compelled him to change his game. All we need to say is, ‘man, you are a genius’.

 

9.  Cementing spot

After his maiden ton on debut against India, he backed it up with a couple of more centuries, all on his home ground ensuring his spot in the starting XI in a bid to fill the vacuum of Aravinda and Hashan Tillakaratne.

 

 

10.  Double-trouble

Scoring a double ton in Tests is commendable, repeating the feat in consecutive Tests is splendid. Samaraweera has achieved this feat by scoring 231 in Karachi and 214 in the next Test at Lahore. He became the fourth cricketer to do so after Wally Hammond, Don Bradman and Vinod Kambli.

 

 

11.  World record

In February 2009, he shared a record-breaking partnership of 437 with Mahela Jayawardene. This is a world record for the fourth wicket in Test cricket. The previous record was held by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey, who put on 411 against West Indies at Edgbaston in May 1957.

 

 

12.  ODI maiden ton

Samaraweera got his maiden ODI century against at Premadasa, almost eleven years after his ODI debut.

 

 

13.  Top ten

In 2011, he scored two centuries in three Tests against South Africa and moved into the ICC’s list of top 10.

 

 

14.  Numero Uno 2009

This was his year when he got the most number of runs in the calendar year. From 11 Tests in 2009, Samaraweera scored 1,234 runs at an average of 72.58; to add to that he scored four tons in that calendar year.

 

 

15.  Terror encounter

Few cricketers have survived the psychological scarring that Thilan has endured; to his credit, he fought his way back into prominence once again. Sri Lanka’s tour to Pakistan in 2009 was nothing short of a nightmare. On the way to Gaddafi Stadium, terrorists opened fire on the Lankan team bus. As many as eight people lost their lives, but the cricketers survived. Not all of them were unscathed though; Samaraweera took a bullet to his thigh.

 

 

16.  Striking back

He showed excellent mental fortitude, making a successful comeback on the wake of the strike by scoring 457 runs in 2010 at a phenomenal average of 114.25.

 

 

17.  Coaching

Now he is coaching a group of aspiring cricketers in Melbourne where he is residing. KC South Melbourne is the club he is associated with.

 

 

18.  Blames politics for axe

In an exclusive interview with Off the mark — Cricket, he admits that his axing had more to do with political interference among selectors rather than his performances.

 

 

19.  Favourite moment

In a Test at Centurion in 2011 he emerged as the highest scorer playing on a bouncy track. In the second Test at Kingsmead he got a hundred on a good pitch. He set the game up, and with Kumar Sangakkara scoring a century in the second innings, Sri Lanka won the battle.

 

 

20.  Bizarre dismissal

In 2013, when he was facing Kyle Hogg in a county fixture, he was stumped after having left a length ball outside off. After leaving, Samaraweera was outside the crease; wicketkeeper Gareth Cross was quick to spot; he threw the stumps down at the striker’s end to catch Samaraweera out of his crease.

 

 

21.  Partner

Samaraweera was the ‘lambi race ka ghoda’ (one for the long run) for Sri Lanka. To his credit, he has been a part of record partnership in Tests for Sri Lanka. He has stitched the record partnerships for the fourth, fifth and the ninth wicket for Sri Lanka — records that still stand.

 

 

22.  Great ‘Away’ record

Only Sangakkara has a better record than him in the Tests outside Sri Lanka (excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh). He has scored 1,975 runs in 30 away Tests at 42.02 (Sangakkara had 3,824 from 45 Tests at 47.80).

 

 

 

(A cricket geek to the tee, Ankit Banerjee smokes and snorts it all day long. The romance with the sport incepted since the 1996 World Cup semi-final. He is a winner of the 2011 edition of the All-India college cricket quiz.)

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