Aura-vinda, The Little Giant For Big Occasions
Standing at just 5'3, Aravinda De Silva who turns 60 years today packed a punch with every Pull Shot, and delivered the best all round performance in a World Cup Final
He was certainly not the tallest, but he certainly was a 'big match player' and regarded if not, the greatest batter Sri Lanka has ever produced, though he's one of the most recent inductees in the ICC Hall of Fame as he received the honour in 2023 after Murali, Sanga and Mahela!
Born today in 1965, Pinnaduwage Aravinda De Silva was a boy of small stature who learned his basics at Isipathana College before moving to D. S. Senanayake College and was the talk of the town as the 'next big thing'. Here's one of those stories by Kanchana Pitigala on his first International Tour to England.
The Sidelines
"You're late to my class!"
If you read the story above, this one right here happened before that tour, and something the author's father remembers to the exact detail for it's one of the most embarrassing moments a child could face and question their purpose in life.
"Son, you have no future if you think playing cricket is what you want to do in life, especially when you keep coming late to my class!"
My father recalls these words uttered by a famous maths tuition master back in the day when young Aravinda came late to the class after his cricket practices (it should also be noted that he used to go back home with a few others in Aravinda's Morris Minor, who was very much the same car enthusiast back then).
But young Aravinda stood there silently, despite getting an earful from the master in front of the whole class when everyone was well aware of his talent outside the classroom. To him, they were just empty words and fast forward to when he was just 18 years, he made his ODI debut in 1984 and Test debut at Lord's the same year. That's how confident he was in his cricketing ability and proved everyone except the master right!
From 'Mad Max' to the 'Big Match' Player
Mel Gibson was already popular for his role in "Mad Max" but for Aravinda, this name was coined because of his risky stroke play that's either a hit or terrible miss that often got him out in a careless manner.
They say he is the greatest, and most complete batter this country has produced but statistics alone don't do justice for what he has achieved. He's the only Cricketer to hit unbeaten twin centuries in a Test match and was also part of Kent in 1995, the first Sri Lankan Cricketer in the post Test era to play County Cricket. His inclusion got a lot of backlash, but soon turned out to be a fruitful one and the only an ounce of what followed ever since.
"Pressure? What pressure?"
Time and time again, we keep resurfacing his two greatest knocks, the counter attacking 66 off just 47 balls against India in the 1996 Semi Finals and the all round show in the Finals. No words are enough to describe the way he played against India in the Semi Finals, in a time before T20 Cricket but one word that needs to be mentioned is Sublime - unparalleled.
And then you have Aura. With the utmost determination to finish the job, 'Aruavinda' De Silva walked into the Gadaffi Stadium when the scoreboard read 23/2, like he knew where every ball was going to pitch and delivered the match winning knock of 107*, having taken 3 wickets and 2 catches when Australia was batting, which is still the best all round performance in a World Cup Finals to date!
Coming back to his overall career, he finished with 15,645 runs by the end of his career, with 31 centuries and a handy bowler with 135 wickets across both formats. He was also the captain of Sri Lanka in both formats, though he performed significantly better when he was not.
His career came to an unfortunate end when he was run out in the 2003 World Cup. Post retirement, he served in several administrative posts with SLC in short stints, and currently holds the post of Chairman in several leading firms in the country, ranging from Engineering to E-Commerce Platforms.
@ferrarinameek Aravinda de silva driving his Ferrari 488 spider 🇱🇰 #Ferrarinameek #srilanka #ferrari #ferrari488 #supercar #v8 #srilankacarspotters #aravindadesilva #cricket #goat #srilankacricket #cricketworldcup #icccricket #icc #icchalloffame ♬
Here's to wishing Deshabandu Aravinda De Silva on his 60th birthday today, and we certainly didn't forget to share this video for all the car enthusiasts!