Hashan Tillakaratne - Interesting Facts, Trivia, And Records

Hashan Tillakaratne, who celebrates his birthday on 14th July, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and test captain. Tillakaratne played a crucial role in Sri Lanka's successful World Cup campaign in 1996. 

Here are a few interesting facts, trivia, and records about Hashan Tillakaratne: 

1) Tillakaratne used to play cricket at Isipathana College, Colombo & D. S. Senanayake College. The youngster got called to play against England B at Galle in 1986. He scored a match-saving century that earned him his ODI debut at Sharjah against India. 

2) He started his international career as a wicketkeeper-batter. However, midway in his career, he became a specialist batter. 

3) In 1995-96, Tillakaratne became the first-ever batter to score an ODI century coming in at number 7. 

4) In 2002, Hashan Tillakaratne became the first Sri Lankan to score a test century on South African soil. 

5) Tillakaratne was made captain of the Sri Lanka Test team in 2003, and in the ten games he led, he could only win one. Post that, Hashan announced his retirement from cricket. 

6) After retirement, Hashan entered politics. He joined United National Party, Sri Lanka's oldest. 

7) Tillakaratne was granted honorary life membership of MCC in 2008, followed by his appointment as President of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers of Sri Lanka (ACUSSL). 

8) He was associated with the Sri Lankan team directly as well, first as Team Manager in 2008, then he joined the selection committee in 2013. Tillakaratne was Sri Lanka's temporary batting coach in 2017 and then became the coach of the under-19 cricket team for two years. 

9) His twin sons, Ravindu and Duvindu Tillakaratne, also play in domestic cricket and were part of the under-19 cricket team as well. 

10) In 83 test matches, Hashan Tillakaratne scored 4545 runs including 11 centuries. He played exactly 200 ODIs, where he amassed 3789 runs.