Sanath Jayasuriya was a unique ODI cricketer due to three factors

Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lankan cricketing legend, is celebrating his 53rd birthday today (June 30). He was a vital member of the Sri Lankan side that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup, where he was named the Player of the Tournament for his outstanding batting and bowling performances.

Jayasuriya was also part of the team that reached the finals of the 2002 Champions Trophy, 2007 World Cup, and 2009 World T20. He was one of the most entertaining and aggressive batters in world cricket and was named in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack’s list of top five cricketers of the year in 1997.

After retiring from the game in 2011, he served Sri Lankan cricket as the chairman of the country’s selection committee and under his tenure, Sri Lanka won the T20 World Cup in 2014. Here are three reasons why Sanath Jayasuriya was a unique ODI cricketer.

Sanath Jayasuriya had sensational all-round abilities

Sanath Jayasuriya is the sole player in ODI cricket history to have taken 300 wickets and scored over 10,000 runs. He formed a lethal opening partnership with Romesh Kaluwitharana that served Sri Lankan cricket for many years. Jayasuriya has 28 centuries to his name, which is the fifth highest in ODI cricket history. He is also the 11th highest wicket-taker in the format, despite being a world-class opening batter, with 323 scalps.

He cemented his place in Sri Lankan cricketing history with his performances in the 1996 World Cup. In just six matches, he scored 221 runs at an average of 36.83 and took seven wickets, including a match-winning spell in the semi-final against India, where he gave away just 12 runs in seven overs and picked up three crucial wickets, including that of the in-form Sachin Tendulkar.

Sanath Jayasuriya swashbuckling batting skills

Sanath Jayasuriya was a trailblazer in ODI cricket, revolutionizing the way the game was played long before the likes of Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, and others came into the fold. Under coach Dav Whatmore in the 1996 World Cup, Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana decided to attack the opposition from the start.

They regularly posted scores of over 100 runs in the first 15 overs, which was a rarity in those days when 50-60 runs was considered a decent result. In the 1996 World Cup, he scored 79 runs off 76 balls, 44 runs off 27 balls, and 82 runs off 44 balls against India, Kenya, and England, respectively, which put the opposition on the backfoot from the start. Batting aggressively in the Powerplay is a norm today, but Jayasuriya started this trend in the mid-1990s.

Sanath Jayasuriya accurate spin bowling

Sanath Jayasuriya was a unique ODI cricketer who stood out in an era where spin bowlers relied on flight and spin to dismiss batters. Jayasuriya, on the other hand, used to bowl faster deliveries and yorkers to much success. Despite being initially picked for his strong bowling performances, he ended his ODI career with 323 wickets, including four 5-fers, at an economy rate of just 4.78.

His bowling style is comparable to that of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in modern times, who rely on pinpoint accuracy in line and length, variation in pace, and the ability to bowl yorkers in the death overs. Jayasuriya was also known for getting through his overs quickly, which has become a template for most finger spinners to bowl defensive lines in white-ball cricket these days.