Matara Mauler calls it a day

Matara Mauler as he is popularly known as-Sanath Jayasuriya retires from the longer version of the game for the second and probably the last time,and what a way to bring it up.The southpaw had last retired from test cricket last year after the test series against Pakistan(when a nasty broken finger quite literally forced his hand) but only to be called back by the selectors for the tough series against England later that year.This shows the caliber of the batsman who can undoubtedly be called as the Mr. Dependeble of Srilankan cricket.For the player who holds the most number of test runs for Srilanka,the moment could not have come at a time better than this.With the likes of (Kumara) Sangakkara and (Mahela) Jayawardane in the form of their life,the srilankan batting has nothing to complain about. Sanath Jayasuriya (above) during his farewell knock of 78 against England

It was a special moment for the entire team-with the match to be remembered for a lot many good reasons.The Murali magic,Sagakkara’s touch with the bat and not to forget-his own awesome innings of 78 that consisted of 10 boundaries and 1 six over mid-wicket for the bowling of Hogard.One special moment of his brilliant knock was an over consisting of 6 fours(a feat achieved only by Chris Gayle and R Sarwan).A partnership of 107 for the first wicket on his last test and not to forget his bowling figures of 1/28 that contributed to another Srilankan win at home was a great way to end his faboulous career that lasted for 17 years.

Jayasuriya(left) during his innings of 340 vs India, 1st Test, August 1997-(below)Jayasuriya and Mahanama break the world record Test partnership, Aug 1997


Blast from the Past:Born on 30^th June 1969 at Galle,Jayasuriya went on to make his test debut against New Zealand in 1991 at Hamilton, Jayasuriya went on to become the backbone of Srilankan cricket for an innings that lasted for a long 17 years.This is no mean achievement.The man who is known for his elegant stroke play and sweep from the very beginning of the innings,was a star in his own aspect.One of the highlightes of his faboulous test career in unarguably the epic 340 against India at Colombo in 1997,which also included a 576 run partnership with another Srilankan veteran (Roshan) Mahanama and broke into the record books for the most amount of runs in an innings(Srilanka put up 952 runs on board bettering the 903 by England against Australia).The very next match Jayasuria went on to put up 199-missing another double hundred by 1 run.The batsman was at times compared with Brian Lara –another left handed batsman who retired earlier this year.What both had in common between them was the hunger for runs after both of them made their entry into world cricket almost simultaneously.

• Matches:107
  
• Wickets:98
  
• Innings:182
  
• Runs:6791
• 50's:30
  
• 100's:16

With the veteran retiring,Sri Lanka will have to look for a different batsman for the opener's slot.It will be difficult fot Sri Lanka to find a replacement of the type of Jayasuriya.Also,his fans all over the world will be missing his elegant stroke play and a decent left arm orthodox spin.