MAHELA JAYEWARDENE INDUCTION TO ICC HALL OF FAME
Former Sri Lanka captain, Mahela Jayawardene has scored again for self and country by gaining one of the highest recognitions by the International Cricket Council (ICC) by its announcement few days ago of his induction to the ICC hall of fame. The honour bestowed in recognition of performance and wholly the contribution to world cricket has indeed decorated Jayawardene, now 44, in the glow of a tremendous cricketing saga that has set him apart as a world great.
He joins former greats Muttiah Muralidaran and Kumar Sangakkara from Sri Lanka who have made it to cricket’s highest portal of fame.
The Sri Lankan icon is among two others namely former South African fast bowler Shaun Pollock and former England women’s cricketer the late Janette Brittin announced by the world citadel of cricket as the newest inductees into its elite ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Some 106 players have won this singular recognition since its launch in 2009.
Jayawardene, has scored a record 11, 814 test runs from 149 matches with a world record highest of 374 with 34 centuries and 12, 650 ODI runs with highest of 144 from 448 appearances and 19 tons and 5479 T20 runs from 222 games with highest of 116. He was a member of Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup winning team in 2014.
Significantly, Mahela Jayawardene has post-retirement become a big international draw for his coaching expertise sought at the IPL as Head Coach of the Mumbai Indians while he also served briefly as Consultant to the Sri Lanka team at the recent ICC T20 World Cup.
Shaun Pollock had the distinction of becoming the first South African to claim a record 400 Test wickets from 108 Tests.
Janette Ann Brittin, who died in 2017 aged 58, played 27 Tests and 63 ODIs for England Women from 1979 to 1998 and scored 1935 and 2121 runs in both formats.