List of Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers

Twenty20 Internationals, also known as T20I, is the latest form of international cricket. The Twenty20 form of the game was first played at international level in 2005. The Sri Lanka national cricket team played their first Twenty20 match a year later against England, which they won by 2 runs.^[1] Since then they have played 23 Twenty20 Internationals, and have won 14 of them.^[2] At the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, Sri Lanka did not manage to get past the "super eight" stage.^[3] However, they arrived unbeaten to the finals of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, where they became the runners up after losing to Pakistan.^[4][5] Sri Lanka Cricket is the governing body of the national team, and selections for the national Twenty20 team as well as the One Day International and Test teams, are carried out by a selection committee under them. Kumar Sangakkara is the current captain of the team.^[6]

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya are two of the most accomplished batsmen for Sri Lanka in Twenty20 cricket, and are the only Sri Lankan players to have scored more than 500 runs. They rank at second and third places respectively for most runs in a career in Twenty20 Internationals.^[7] Dilshan has the highest total runs (576) and highest score in an innings (96 not out) for Sri Lanka, and is also known for the "Dilscoop", an unorthodox stroke employed by him in Twenty20 cricket.^[8][9] Jayasuriya has the highest strike rate for the team, with a total of 22 sixes and 64 fours.^[10] Along with these two players, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara are the only batsmen to have scored a half century for Sri Lanka.^[11] Centuries are rare in Twenty20 cricket^{[N 1]} and no Sri Lankan cricketer has scored one, although Dilshan had come close with an unbeaten 96 against the West Indies on 19 June 2009,^[12] which is also the third highest score in Twenty20 Internationals.^[13]

The leading bowlers for the Sri Lankan team are Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga, with 25 and 23 wickets respectively. Mendis also has the best bowling figures in an innings of 4 wickets for 15 runs.^[14] These two bowlers are currently ranked fourth and fifth respectively in world rankings for most wickets in a career.^[15] Wicket–keeper Sangakkara is currently third in world rankings for most number of dismissals, with 9 catches and 7 stumpings.^[16] Sri Lanka currently holds the world record for the highest team total, having scored 260 runs for 6 wickets against Kenya on 14 September 2007.^{[N 2]} They also recorded the highest winning margin of 172 runs at the same match.^[17]

Twenty20 cricketers

This table includes statistics for cricketers who have played at least one Twenty20 International match for Sri Lanka. The list is arranged in the order in which each player won his first Twenty20 cap. Where more than one player won his first Twenty20 cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname. All statistics are correct as of October 2009.

Key

Notes

References