Some Interesting Facts About Mahela Jayawardene 

Mahela Jayawardene is a former Srilankan batsman, who played all three formats for Sri Lanka between 1997 to 2015. Jayawardene is one of the best players the world has ever seen. He was a proper batsman in terms of class, used to play with straight bat. Mahela was one of the main players of Sri Lanka during his career, who has won many matches for Sri Lanka single-handedly. As he turned 21, let’s have a look at some interesting facts about Mahela Jayawardene, the ace batsman from Sri Lanka. 

Interesting Facts About Mahela Jayawardene

1. Mahela Jayawardene’s full name is Denagamage Praboth Mahela De Silva Jayawardene.

2. Mahela was born on 27th May 1977 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. His father’s name is Senerath Jayawardene and his mother’s name is Sunita. 

3. Jayawardene used to go to Nalanda College Colombo. He developed his interest in cricket because of his father, who took him to Nondescripts Cricket Club in Cinnamon Garden. He has even captained the Nalanda College cricket team in 1994.

4. The pro batsman’s nickname is “Mahiya”. 

5. Mahela had a younger brother named Dhishal, who passed away in the fight with cancer. The 16-year-old was very disturbed after his sibling’s untimely death and took a break from cricket. In the memory of his beloved brother, Jayawardene became the main campaigner for the Hope cancer Project in Sri Lanka. His work is applauded by the people of Lanka. His aim is to build a 750-bed cancer ward in the only cancer hospital of Lanka, Maharagama. 

6. He made his domestic debut for Sinhalese Sports Club in 1995 and T20 debut for the same club in 2004. His first-class career is incredible, amassing 17383 runs in 239 matches with a bewitching average of 49.68, including 51 centuries and 80 half-centuries. 

7. Mahela Jayawardene is the 69th test player to debut for Sri Lanka in 1997 against India. His first test is memorable as Srilanka summed up the highest ever Test score of 952 runs with the loss of 6 wickets, batting for 271 overs. He added 66 runs off 105 balls in the match. 

8. Jayawardene’s career-best score 374 in tests against South Africa in 2006 in Colombo is the highest ever score in the longest format of the game by a right-handed batsman as well as the best score by a Srilankan. 

9. Mahela was also involved in the highest ever test partnership for any wicket with Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara in 2006 in SSC Colombo. They added 624 runs for the third wicket. 

10. The Colombo-born player has been involved in the most number of dismissals in the history of test cricket with Muttiah Muralitharan, taking 72 catches in his ball. 

11. Mahela played his maiden ODI match against Zimbabwe in 1998. Having scored more than 10000 runs in the ODIs, playing 448 ODIs which is the 2nd most by any individual and highest by any Srilankan in ODI cricket history. 

12. Jayawardene was a gun fielder also. He holds the record of grabbing the most number of catches in ODIs, 218 in 448 matches. He is also the only player to have 200 catches in One Day Internationals. Mahela is also the highest number of catch taker in international cricket across all three formats (440) among fielders.

13. Mahela Jayawardene is the first Srilankan player to hit a century in T20I, he scored the hundred in the 2010 T20 World Cup against Zimbabwe. 

14. The former batting great has also made the most runs in a single ground in tests, 2921 runs in 27 matches (42 innings) at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. 

15. Mahela is also the first Sri Lankan to smash a century in all three formats. 

16. Apart from being a dependable batsman, he was a great leader also. Under his captaincy in all three formats, Mahela won 101 matches out of 186 matches with a commendable win percentage of 54.3, including the overseas series win in England & New Zealand. 

17. The Lankan legend has dominated in the T20 World Cup also. He has notched up 1016 runs in 31 matches, which is the highest by any batsman in T20I. 

18. Jayawardene had a huge impact on his team to get them into the finals of the 2007 & 2011 World Cup. In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he was the 2nd highest run-getter with 548 runs in 11 matches, including a fine knock of 115* against New Zealand in the semi-finals. His priceless experience assisted the island country in the next World Cup also. He added 304 runs in 9 matches with an impressive average of 50.66. His best knock was against India in the finals at Wankhede Stadium, unbeaten 103 off 88 balls. 

19. The former Srilankan skipper’s only ICC event win is the 2014 T20 World Cup. 

20. Jayawardene’s stats are great in the sub-continent. But he failed to impress in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and England. His batting average was below 35 in overseas conditions. On the contrary, above 60 at home. 

21. Mahela’s favorite opposition was India in One Day cricket. He has scored 2666 runs against India out of his 12650 ODI runs. 

22. The veteran player also has a bizarre record in his name also, the 3rd most ducks in ODIs (28). 

23.  Mahela  Jayawardene is the 4th highest run-scorer in international cricket with 25957 runs in 652 matches (752 innings) with an admirable average of 39.15.

24. ICC named M Jayawardene the captain of the year 2006.

25. He became the Wisden Cricketer of the year 2007. 

26. International Cricket Council conferred him the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award in 2013, for his honesty in a test match against New Zealand in 2012 at Galle. 

27.  Jayawardene has played IPL for 6 years for 3 different teams King Xi Punjab (2008-10), Kochi Taskers Kerala (2011), and Delhi Daredevils (2012-2014).

28. Mahela Jayawardene is married to Mallika Sirisena. Their daughter’s name is Sansa Arya Jayawardene. 

29. Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have played a lot of cricket together. They are good friends off the field also, together they have opened a restaurant called “Ministry of Crab” in Colombo.

30. Jayawardene’s estimated net worth is $4 million.

31. The Sri Lankan legend used to wear jersey No. 27.

Mahela Jayawardene Career Stats

Format	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Best	Strike rate	50’s	100’s
ODI	448	418	12650	33.37	144	78.96	77	19
Test	149	252	11814	49.84	374	51.45	50	34
T20I	55	55	1493	31.76	100	133.18	9	1
First-Class	237	383	17838	49.68	–	–	80	51