Tillakaratne Dilshan

“It is pitched up and down the ground, and again, and pulled away to the deep... this is gonna be three in a row, Oh! that’s four in a row, and it’s up and it’s through... five in a row, can we see it? Oh! it’s there… it’s racing away… could it be six fours in a row in a single over in a World Cup game… and it is!”, that was Tillakaratne Dilshan’s magic! 

A stealer opener, a part-timer off-break bowler, an electric fielder, and the pioneer of the 'Dilscoop' shot, Dilshan has been a revelation in Sri Lankan cricket who took Sanath Jayasuriya’s spot to make it his own. He was a technical sound yet aggressive batter who had powerful wrists alongside being the sweet timer of the ball. 

Debuted for Sri Lanka in 1999, Dilshan announced himself with a staggering unbeaten 163 against Zimbabwe in his first Test tour. However, he couldn’t cement himself in the Sri Lankan batting order until 2003, when he produced brilliant performances against England and Test in the longest format but was a bits-and-pieces in the shorter formats, during his initial years. 

The inauguration of the Indian Premier League saw Dilshan getting picked by Delhi Daredevils, though, his first stint was a flop as he batted in the lower-middle order. The Sri Lankan’s true potential was capitalized by the franchise in the second edition where he moved up the order to bat at number three and scored 400 runs that season. Dilshan was then given the opening spot in his national team and he never disappointed after that. 

Dilshan took his country to the final of the 2009 World T20 and was the highest run-maker in the 2011 World Cup where Sri Lanka was again the second-best team. Post the 50-over event, the Sri Lankan bagged a huge USD 650000 contract by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2011 season. 

Dilshan gave thrashing starts to his national side during their World T20 winning campaign in 2014. The following year, the opener was again at his very best during the World Cup held Down Under where he hit 395 runs in seven games at 65.83, including two centuries and his world record of six-fours against Mitchel Johnson. 

After playing 87 Tests, 330 ODI, & 80 T20Is and scoring 17471 international runs for Sri Lanka, Dilshan decided to bid a final goodbye to the game in 2016. 

(As of April 2021)