[PIC] Sanath Jayasuriya celebrates 41st birthday with a cake

Sanath Jayasuriya celebrates his 41st birthday with a cake. Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas to his right are currently in England playing in the English county season.

(Source)

Happy 41st Birthday Sanath Jayasuriya !

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to the Gem of Sri Lanka, Sanath Jayasuriya !

At 40 - A Tribute to Sanath Jayasuriya

by Vineet Sharma

Matara Marauder' Sanath Jayasuriya had a rather sedate start to his international career, and based on his first few visits to the crease, it would have taken a brave man to bet that this southpaw would go down as one of the legends of modern cricket.

Jayasuriya's first steps in international cricket were at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in a One-Day game on 26 December 1989, against the Australians. Jayasuriya walked in to bat at number five and his innings fizzled out for just three runs. In his debut series, Jayasuriya could manage a top-score of just 31 runs. The Sri Lankan southpaw's left-arm bowling skills outshone his batting abilities in the beginning of his career. In fact his batting powers did not dawn upon him until his first half-century against the Pakistanis at Sharjah, four years after his One-day debut.

A year later, Jayasuriya blasted his maiden One-Day century against the Kiwis at Bloemfontein. The knock was manufactured at a strike-rate of 97.90, which even now is a smashing rate for scoring runs in 50 overs cricket. The innings of 140 runs showed glimpses of the explosive bastman that Jaysuriya was to be in the future. Two years later in the Wills World Cup in India, Jayasuriya tweaked the burner and turned on the heat.

Given a free hand by his captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Jayasuriya assaulted the opponent bowlers right from the start. He went for boundaries off each delivery and the plan worked well for the Sri Lankan team, who then lifted the 1996 World Cup on the back of Jayasuriya's pyrotechnics at the top.

Jayasuriya's 'pinch-hitting' suddenly changed the way teams approached the start of a One-day innings. From the sedate, Jayasuriya changed it to supersonic. If the bat in the hands of Jaysuriya was a like magic wand, the ball in his spinning fingers spun a web of deception. Ranatunga and many other Sri Lankan captains used his left-arm spin in the middle-overs and also in the death.

Even in Test Match cricket, Jayasuriya kept the full-blast approach. From Colombo to the Oval, via Karachi; on seaming pitches, in swinging conditions, Jaysuriya became the all conquering master batsman for Sri Lanka. The star, the lyncpin, the crisis-man, he wore all the hats and racked up 14 Test Match centuries. Sanath seemed particulary fond of his neighbours India and Pakistan, as he has carved four and three centuries rescpectively against the two sub-continent opponents. His highest Test score was a run-fest of 340 runs against the doomed Indian side at Colombo.

In One-day cricket, Jayasuriya's records are stunning. The left-hander has scored 28 hundreds and scalped 313 wickets and is the fourth batsman in the game to stack up more than 10,000 runs in ODIs.

Being the top player in his team Jayasuriya was eventually handed the captaincy of the Sri Lankan team , but a disastrous campaign in the 2003 World Cup, and timid form with the bat, forced his resignation in April 2003. A lean patch followed but Jayasuriya was soon back to his normal run-scoring self in 2004. Apart from this blip, Jayasuriya created a mild furore by announcing his retirement from Test cricket in 2006. He back-tracked his statement and eventually played his last Test in 2007.

Jayasuriya carried on his One-day form to the T20 way of things. In the World Twenty20 in South Africa, Jayasuriya scored a scorching 88 runs, which now remains as his top-score in the shortest format of the game. Incidentally, the left-hander at 38, was the oldest player in the T20 WC in 2007. This fact is a statement about Jayasuriya's fitness and longevity, and also his ability to adapt to all forms of the game.

At the age of 39, Jayasuriya became the oldest man to score an ODI century. The second season of the IPL saw him plundering runs for the Mumbai Indians and in the this year's T20 WC in England, Jayasuriya played his part in taking his team to the finals. Now at 40, the man seems unstoppable with his run-scoring spree. Jayasuriya is veteran now, but his heroics with the bat and his enthusiasm and passion for the game, cannot be matched by most young cricketers. Jayasuriya is truly a legend of the game, and one can only say 'Jaya Ho'!

Source : MSN

A Modern Cricket Legend named Sanath Teran Jayasuriya | Birthday Tribute to the master

The story of a legend - "Sanath Teran Jayasuriya"






SANATH JAYASURIYA the cricketing world by storm with his unusual array of shots in the early nineties. He taught his contemporary batsmen to go all out in the first 15 overs and tear the opposition bowling attack. With Romesh Kaluwitharana, he formed one of the most destructive opening pairs of the world and virtually snatched the 1996 Wills World Cup, making Sri Lanka the eventual World Cup winners. His slow left-arm marked the death knell for many batting barons all over the world. A fierce competitor on the field with his willowing and bowling blitzkriegs, he is equally gentle and friendly off it. He is none other than Sanath Jayasuriya, one of the greatest modern stalwarts of the amazing game.

Known for his trademark cuts and pulls which rattled the most persevering of bowlers, he is the one who always goes by his instincts rather than the cricketing grammar book. A large number of cricketing pundits including maestro Greg Chappell are of the opinion that, on his day, he is the most dangerous batsmen for any opposition and can turn around the game in a jiffy. Having been the premier match winner for Sri Lanka for over a decade and a half, he is still going strong and there are few who doubt his abilities even today. The fact that Sri Lanka has gone on to win more than 80 per cent of the matches whenever he scored more than fifty, testifies to the amazing prowess of this diminutive left-hander.

He follows a simple and uncomplicated philosophy towards batting, which is - if the ball is in his zone he will hit it come what may. Dry and arid statistics cannot summarise his contribution towards the development of Sri Lankan cricket. He virtually brought out cricket from shambles in his country. He unified a country eternally reeling under racial conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. He was the one who gave the much needed conviction to his team mates, that even Sri Lanka can be part of the big league. He was selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997 when he was at the peak of his form and served as captain of the Sri Lankan team in 38 Test matches from 1999 to 2003. This period was one of the most fruitful stints in Sri Lankan cricket.

He is an extremely valuable all-rounder with an awesome batting average in both Test and One Day International cricket. But the plus point of his batting is his ability to maintain the strike rate according to which he scores his runs.

Making his debut in ODIs against Australia in the 1989-90 season, he attributes his success to the mentoring he got from Arjuna Ranatunga, the former World Cup winning skipper of the island nation’s cricketing team and a very good batsman in his own right. He eventually went on to become the highest run scorer for Sri Lanka in both versions of the game and he is currently in pursuit of T20 glory.

There is little room for doubt that he could be one of the trump cards for Sri Lanka in the coming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Asia. Although he has retired from Test cricket on account of his age, he remains as agile as he was at 20 in the two shorter versions of the game.

Hats off to you, Sanath Jayasuriya!

Happy 40th Birthday !!!

Jayasuriya turns 40, eyes next World Cup

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's veteran batsman Sanath Jayasuriya turns 40 on Tuesday, with a vow to carry on until the 2011 World Cup despite his being the oldest cricketer still playing at the top level.

"Age is not a problem, it is how you stay mentally and physically fit to remain on top of the game, to try out new variations in the bat and ball," Jayasuriya said.

The dashing batsman, who also bowls left-arm spin, made his international debut against Australia in Melbourne in 1989 and won praise as an all-rounder during Sri Lanka's victorious World Cup campaign in 1996.

Jayasuriya is only the second batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to pass 13,000 runs in One-Day Internationals. He is also the oldest batsman to score a one-day century, at 39 years and 212 days.

"I don't really worry about records anymore these days," the left-hander said. "I focus on putting runs on the board, to help the team win matches."

Jayasuriya retired from Test matches in 2007, but continues to shine in the physically challenging shorter version of the game, determined to prove he has a few more miles left on the clock.

The short but powerfully-built batsman is virtually unstoppable when on song, and scored freely during the recent World Twenty20 in England where Sri Lanka won six successive matches before losing to Pakistan in the final.

Jayasuriya said the emergence of talented young players meant he could never take his place for granted in the national team.

"Playing with youngsters is extra hard these days," said the all-rounder who led Sri Lanka from 1999 to April 2003.

"There is an abundance of raw talent constantly knocking at the door for a berth in the team. And that puts pressure on me. I have to perform to retain my place."

However, he added, life is not easy for younger players, either.

"They also need to live up to expectations, sometimes the pressure on them is much more than what it was when I was starting out," he said.

Jayasuriya announced his retirement in 2006, but made a comeback during Sri Lanka's tour of England that year.

Now he does not talk of quitting and Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara said he has left the decision with Jayasuriya.

"Sanath is a match winner and as long as he's fit and willing to play for us, we are happy to have him in the side," said Sangakkara.

"He has won us a lot of matches and I am sure he will win a lot of games as well for us in the future."

Asked if he will play the World Cup to be held in the sub-continent in 2011, Jayasuriya said: "I would love to. I am taking each series at a time. Hopefully I will get there."

His next outing will be against World Twenty20 champions Pakistan, who will play five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 game after the three-Test series that starts in Sri Lanka on July 4.

"Pakistan has variety in batting and bowling and we are also working on a few things. Let's see, it should be an interesting contest," said Jayasuriya.

Source : TOI