Tillakaratne Dilshan

Dilshan was the top run scorer in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He scored 500 runs from nine One Day international innings with the best score of 144 runs against Zimbabwe. In the quarter-final against England, Dilshan along with Upul Tharanga, stood double hundred partnerships for the first wicket. This stands as the best ever chasing in a quarterfinal in a World Cup game.[39] He scored two centuries, two half-centuries, 61 boundaries, and four sixes during the tournament which ended at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India, in April 2011.

He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2011 World Cup by the ICC and Cricinfo.[47][48]

Immediately after the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, with Kumar Sangakkara stepping down as captain, Dilshan was appointed the captain of Sri Lanka in all formats of the game. Dilshan said after his retirement in ODIs that, he did not want to take the captaincy, but Sri Lanka Cricket asked him to take the captaincy for six months until they found someone suitable. He accepted the task, but the many troubles in the team such as retirements and injuries led him to reduce performances.

However, his appointment as captain was questioned by cricket fans and pundits alike. Many wondered if he was the right man to lead Sri Lanka. Dilshan scored 193 runs against England at Lord's, breaking the record for the highest individual score made by a Sri Lankan[50] at the venue, and lead Sri Lanka to their maiden test win in South Africa.[51][52] Losses to England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa put strain on his captaincy,[53] however, which he relinquished in January 2012.[54]

He also said that he had a lack of support during captaincy tenure and help from former captains and coaches for the team. During Dilshan's captaincy, four coaches were introduced, but none succeeded.

Dilshan became the 5th player in international cricket to score centuries in all forms of the game. During the Australian tour of Sri Lanka in 2011, Dilshan scored an unbeaten century of 104* from just 54 balls in the first Twenty20 match of the series,[55] becoming the 5th player to achieve the milestone after West Indian Chris Gayle, New Zealander Brendon McCullum, Indian Suresh Raina and fellow Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardena and it is also the highest individual twenty20 international score by a Sri Lankan in the history. He scored the century from just 57 balls with 12 fours and 5 sixes. He achieved his century with a dilscoop hitting behind the wicket-keeper.

For his performances in 2011, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.[56] For his performances in 2013, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.[57]

In December 2011, Sri Lanka registered their first ever Test win in South Africa. This also became their first Test win under Dilshan's captaincy. However, after losing the Test series 2–1 and the subsequent ODI series 3–2, Dilshan resigned and was replaced by Mahela Jayawardene. In 2012, he was ranked the second-highest ODI run scorer, with 1119 runs, behind his teammate Kumar Sangakkara. For his performances in 2012, he was named in the ODI XI of the year by Cricinfo.[58]

Tillakaratne Dilshan batting at Lord's 2011

Dilshan announced his retirement from Test cricket on 9 October 2013.[59] Dilshan retired from test cricket in 2013 with his last match being played against Bangladesh at the R. Premadasa Stadium.[60] Dilshan played 87 test matches amassing 5,492 runs, along with 16 centuries and 39 wickets.

On 16 December 2014, in his 300th One-Day International, Dilshan scored his 18th ODI century and also passed 9,000 runs in ODIs. He became the fourth Sri Lankan cricketer and 15th overall to achieve this landmark. He also took 3 crucial wickets in the match against England and aided Sri Lanka's title claim as the winners of the tournament. He won both man of the match award and man of the series award.[61]

TM Dilshan on his way to his 18th ODI century

On 23 January 2015, Dilshan scored his 20th One-Day International century against New Zealand, becoming the 10th batsmen to score 20 ODI centuries.[62]

On 26 February 2015, he scored an unbeaten 161 runs during the group stage match of 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup against Bangladesh. This was his highest individual score in an ODI and was the highest score by a Sri Lankan in Cricket World Cup history, a title previously held by Aravinda de Silva, who scored 145 runs against Zimbabwe in 2003. It was also the highest individual score without a six in ODI history and Dilshan's third score greater than 150. During his innings, he shared a 206* run second wicket partnership with Kumar Sangakkara.[63] This was the highest second wicket partnership for Sri Lanka in ODIs, but was surpassed in the following match between Sri Lanka and England by a 212* run stand between Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne.[64]

On 1 March 2015, during a group match against England, Dilshan took his 100th ODI wicket by dismissing Gary Balance off his own bowling, thus becoming the third Sri Lankan to score 3000 runs and take 100 wickets after Jayasuriya and Aravinda.[65]

During a group match against Australia, Dilshan scored 24 runs off a Mitchell Johnson over by hitting six consecutive 4s, a first in World Cup history.[66]

Dilshan's teammates, Sangakkara and Mahela, retired from ODI cricket following Sri Lanka's loss to South Africa in the quarterfinals. When asked about retirement, Dilshan stated that until Sri Lanka found a good opening batsman he would continue to feature in the shorter forms of the game for about 2 years or so. Dilshan got out without scoring in the quarterfinals and Sri Lanka exited the World Cup without making the semifinals for the first time since 2011.

On 26 July 2015, Dilshan passed 10,000 ODI runs during the fifth ODI against Pakistan at Hambantota. With this, he became the fourth Sri Lankan and eleventh overall to achieve the milestone.[8]

Dilshan in his last ODI

Dilshan was the second person after Sanath Jayasuriya to score more than 4000 ODI runs after the age of 35 and surpassed Jayasuriya's record of 4,142 runs in 2015.[67] Until retirement, Dilshan has scored 4,674 ODI runs after the age of 35, most by a player.[68]

On 9 November 2015, Dilshan became the highest run scorer for Sri Lanka in Twenty20 Internationals passing 1,493 runs of Mahela Jayawardena. With this feat, Dilshan also became the first Sri Lankan and third overall to pass 1,500 T20I runs, milestone achieved after Brendan McCullum, and JP Duminy. Until his retirement, he was only behind McCullum by runs in T20Is.[69][70][71][72]

During the third ODI against New Zealand on 31 December 2015, Dilshan smashed 91 runs to reach another milestone in his career. Dilshan surpassed 1202 runs by Jayasuriya as most runs by an opening batsman for Sri Lanka in a calendar year. Dilshan scored 1207 runs in the year 2015 with 4 hundreds and 6 fifties.[73][74]

Dilshan finished 2015 ODI arena as the highest ODI run scorer for Sri Lanka and third highest of all-time list. During 25 ODIs played in 2015, Dilshan scored 1,207 runs with the average of 52.47 and strike rate of 90.75. The veteran of 39 years of age, Dilshan showcased incredible all-around ability and had no mercy for the bowlers for all nations, got 4 hundreds and 6 fifties.[75] Until retirement in August, Dilshan has surpassed more than 800 runs each in four consecutive years from 2012 to 2015. For his performances in 2015, he was named in the World ODI XI by ICC.[76]

Dilshan was not totally successful in 2016 Asia Cup, where Sri Lanka lost to Bangladesh and India lost the way to the finals. On 4 March 2016, against Pakistan, Dilshan reached another milestone by hitting 200 fours in all twenty20 internationals and the first player to break 200 fours in T20Is.[10]

Dilshan's consistency as the leading run scorer for Sri Lanka in Twenty20 cricket proved in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20, when he scored unbeaten 83 runs against Afghanistan in a pool match. The innings reached by Afghanistan was 153 and, Dilshan started the innings with showers of four and sixes in a consecutive manner in first six overs. Sri Lanka reached the winning moment in the 19th over with 6 wickets in hand, courtesy of man of the match performance by Dilshan.[77] After that innings, in rest of the pool matches against West Indies and England, Dilshan got out by poor umpire decisions and Sri Lanka eliminated from the first round.[78] Dilshan finished his last international major event as the highest scorer for Sri Lanka with 133 runs at an average of 44.33.[79]

Dilshan was not included in the England tour in 2016; which was due to his personal reasons.[84] But, some local media stated that, the conflict between Dilshan and Sri Lanka Cricket board for his retirement consideration was the actual cause for the refuse for England tour. However, Dilshan denied these rumors.[85] On 25 August 2016, Dilshan announced his retirement from the international arena after the Australian tour. The news stated that, due to immense pressure exerted by the selection committee to reform the limited over squad for upcoming World Cup, the team should have many immediate challenges to do. This forced Dilshan to announce and speed up his intentions to retire from limited overs.[86][87][88][89][90][91]

Many Sri Lankan cricketers wished Dilshan and spoke about him as:

He played his last ODI at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on 28 August 2016. He scored 42 runs in his last ODI innings. As said by skipper Angelo Mathews, the match was dedicated to Dilshan, and a win could give him a good farewell.[94] The ground was covered by many tributes to Dilshan highlighting that "A member of 10,000 run club, A legacy of the Dilscoop", "What a Run", "Dilshan You Have Made Us Proud", and "Thank You Dilshan".[95] However, Sri Lanka lost the match by 2 wickets at the end.[96] Until his retirement from ODIs, Dilshan is the 11th highest ODI scorer of all time and 7th highest century maker of all time.

He played his last Twenty20 International at R Premadasa Stadium on 9 September 2016. He got out for a just single run in the match, but his fielding and bowling came back to the highest level. He took 2 crucial wickets at the end of the Australian innings, by ending 17 years of cricketing career. He ended his international career with a wicket off his last ball. At the retirement, Dilshan is the second highest T20I run scorer of all time as well. Commentators summarized his career with the quote "Legends Never Retires".[97]

Dilshan publicly displayed his support to Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2015 Presidential Election. He did so by welcoming Mahinda Rajapakse to Maharagama for an election rally.[100] In 2018, Dilshan announced that he had joined Mahinda Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party.[101]

In 2018, Dilshan praised the president, Maithripala Sirisena for deciding to implement the Death penalty for drug traffickers. “Not only for drugs, it should be implemented for child abuse and rape cases,” he said, adding that the decision should have been made a long time ago.[102][103]

Dilshan is often considered as a cool-headed cricketer with a smile on his face, even with opposition players. He has been known to video bomb fellow players such as Chris Gayle.[104] But after a terrible disaster during the New Zealand tour of 2015–16, when Sri Lanka lost all three forms and lost the number one spot of Twenty20 team rankings as well, a Sri Lankan cricket fan at Eden Park after the second T20 match against New Zealand, was overheard asking Dilshan to retire from cricket immediately. Dilshan was somewhat angry at this and asked the fan, "Are you going to replace me?"[105][106] The issue came on social media as well. After Dilshan landed in Sri Lanka, he stated to the media that he would know when to retire, just as he had in test cricket and Sri Lankans who are engaged outside the country must know their limits.

• He has the highest score scored in Lord's Cricket Ground by a Sri Lankan, where he scored 193 runs in 2013.[36]
• Highest partnership for the fifth wicket – 280 by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera against Bangladesh in 2005.
• Only Sri Lankan to scored centuries in both innings in his 50th Test.
• First successful challenger of an umpiring decision.[107]

• Second Sri Lankan to have 3 ODI centuries above 150, after Sanath Jayasuriya, where he has 4 scores above 150 in ODIs.[63]
• Highest individual score for Sri Lanka without hitting a six – Dilshan scored 161* with only 22 fours against Bangladesh. This was a world record set in 2015 and was eventually surpassed by David Warner in 2016 which included 24 fours. But Dilshan's innings of 161* still remains the longest World Cup innings without hitting a six.
• Most runs by a subcontinent batsman in an ODI Tri-series away from home. Dilshan achieved this feat during CB Series in Australia 2011/12, where he scored 513 runs.
• Most ODI runs by any batsman since the age of 35. – He has scored 4,674 ODI runs after 35 years of age.[108]
• Most runs as an opener for Sri Lanka in a calendar year – 1207 runs by Dilshan in the year 2015.

• Highest run scorer for Sri Lanka – Dilshan has scored 1,889 runs in 80 matches with average 28.19. He is second in the list of all time at the retirement.[109]
• Highest individual score in T20I by a Sri Lankan – Dilshan scored 104* against Australia in 2011.[110]
• He has the most catches in T20Is by a Sri Lankan – 31 in 80 matches.[111]
• Highest partnership for the first wicket – 124 by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya against West indies in 2009.[112]
• Highest partnership for the fourth wicket – 104* by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jeevan Mendis against Australia in 2011.[112]
• Most number of 4s – 223 in 80 matches. He is the first player to achieve 200 fours.[113]
• Dilshan was the first player to score a T20I century as captain and he is the only captain to score a T20I century in a winning cause. His innings of 104* are the third highest T20I score by a captain and it is the highest ever T20I score made by a captain in a winning cause.[114]

• Highest individual score by a Sri Lankan – 161* by Dilshan against Bangladesh in 2015.[115]
• Highest opening partnership (runs) – 282 by Upul Tharanga (133) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (144) against Zimbabwe in 2011.[116]

• He is the inventor of Dilscoop and noted as the first instance where a cricket shot has been named by a player's name.
• He is the second Sri Lankan and fifth overall to achieve hundreds in all forms of the game.[117]
• First captain to score centuries in all formats while captaining.
• Highest run scorer in 2009 ICC World Twenty20 held at England, who scored 317 runs in 7 matches with 3 half-centuries.[118]
• Highest run scorer in 2011 Cricket World Cup, scored 500 runs in 9 matches with 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries.[119]
• Most ducks in T20 Internationals – 10 ducks in 78 matches.[120]
• He is the fourth Sri Lankan and eleventh overall to pass 10,000 ODI runs.
• He is the first Sri Lankan to score 1,500 T20I runs.

Dilshan has 16 Test centuries, 22 One-Day International centuries, and 1 Twenty20 International century. He is the first cricketer in the history to score centuries in all formats as a captain. He is the second Sri Lankan and fifth overall to achieve international centuries in all forms of the game.