Mahela Jayawardene

Sri Lankan batting legend and former captain

Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (born 27 May 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer, captain, and batsman of the Sri Lankan national cricket team.

Quick Facts

Role: Head Coach
Affiliation: Mumbai Indians
Season year: 2025

Lore & Background

Jayawardene made his Test cricket debut in August 1997 and his One Day International debut in January 1998. In 2006, along with his teammate Kumar Sangakkara, he made the highest ever partnership in First-class cricket, scoring 624 runs for the third wicket. He appeared in 652 international matches representing Sri Lanka in a career spanning about 18 years. He is the first player in the history of Sri Lankan cricket to score over 10,000 Test runs and is the second Sri Lankan player to score more than 10,000 runs in ODIs after Sanath Jayasuriya. His highest test score, 374 against South Africa, is the highest score by a right-handed batsman in the history of Test cricket. Along with Sangakkara, he has the most career partnership runs for the 3rd wicket in Tests, scoring 5890 runs. He was a key member of the team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, and was part of the team that reached the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. In November 2021, he was inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, becoming the third Sri Lankan after Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara.

Reader's Guide

Jayawardene currently serves as the Chairman of Sri Lanka National Sports Council. He also works as an international TV commentator and serves as a board member in several unlisted public limited companies in Sri Lanka. He has been a vocal critic of Sri Lanka Cricket over the years especially after 2015.

Did You Know?

Jayawardene was the first Sri Lankan in the history of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to score a century, which he did with 100 runs against Zimbabwe in the 2010 tournament.
In 2006, Jayawardene was named by the International Cricket Council as the best International captain of the year.
He is known for his fielding skills in the inner ring, having effected the most run-outs in ODI cricket of any fielder since the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Jayawardene was educated at Nalanda College Colombo and captained their first XI cricket team in 1994.