Sri Lanka's best batsman in International cricket?

[weldone]

Sanga in tests, and Jayasuriya is ODIs

So, voting for Sanga here

 

[jimmy101]

Aravinda over Sanga seriously? Sanga for me is a top tier test bat along with Lara and SRT.

Aravinda averaged 42 odd or so in Tests,scored a 160 odd in Brisbane I think thats a standout.Don't think he is comparable to Sanga in terms of Test cricket.

Guess that would make starting an online poll on Sri Lanka's best bat a pretty pointless exercise then.

 

[Daemon]

It really is though

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Sanga for tests

Jaya for odis

Samaraweera for the courage of recovering from being shot

Asanka Gurusinha for being my personal favourite

 

[YorksLanka]

for me Sanga just edges Aravinda in tests and in ODI's Sanath then Dilshan

 

[Coronis]

Sanga. This is like asking who New Zealand's best bowler is.

 

[OverratedSanity]

It's Sangakkara and it's not close.

Mahela my personal fave, mostly for the kind of hundreds he hit in the short form. Kept his head and crafted innings more than hit them. Rarer event than it should have been though.

Mahela was a very odd player in ODIs. Never was consistent enough to even be considered a good player in the format but from time to time he produced some gems. His hundred in the WC final was amazing... Looked like he was just playing a normal sedate knock with no big shots until you glanced at the scorecard and realized he'd got an 80 ball 100.

 

[vcs]

Mahela was a very odd player in ODIs. Never was consistent enough to even be considered a good player in the format but from time to time he produced some gems. His hundred in the WC final was amazing... Looked like he was just playing a normal sedate knock with no big shots until you glanced at the scorecard and realized he'd got an 80 ball 100.

Yes, his knock was the best innings in that match.

 

[vitalogy83]

Sanga by a long way when you consider overall best bat.

Sanath was brilliant in ODI's..

Ara had a few great years and the WC win will always elevate him

+ Both Ara and Sanath faced better attacks than Sanga overall.

Mahela was just so easy on the eye that it hurt. Shame he just could deliver in Tests outside the SSC and more consistently in ODI's.

Dilshan gets an honorable mention too.

 

[oblongballs]

Dilshan because you can sing his full name to the theme tune of Please Sir.

Dilshan is probably a top 3 limited overs batsman for SL.

 

[Himannv]

I'm shocked by how highly people seem to rate Dilshan. I can sort of understand why Sanga is overrated but I can't quite understand the Dilshan fans. Are recent events just too fresh in everyone's minds or something?

 

[akilana]

Mahela was a very odd player in ODIs. Never was consistent enough to even be considered a good player in the format but from time to time he produced some gems. His hundred in the WC final was amazing... Looked like he was just playing a normal sedate knock with no big shots until you glanced at the scorecard and realized he'd got an 80 ball 100.

His 2007 semi final knock was just as good.

 

[Himannv]

I feel Mahela just didn't convert his starts more often. He plays himself in and then gets out in an effort to lift the run rate. His record is comparable to Sanath in terms of average and runs scored, but I think you'll find that Jayasuriya ended up making teams pay for not getting him out early. I feel Mahela really should have played as an opener more and he had some success with it towards the end of his career.

He's easily my favourite batsmen of the lot and its great to watch him play spin in particular. I reckon he had more talent than all the players mentioned in this thread (Aravinda included) but he just didn't make the most of it. Despite scoring 12K+ ODI runs, I think you can still say with some justification that he fell short of expectations.

 

[Himannv]

His 2007 semi final knock was just as good.

His first ODI century was pretty special as well. It came in a game where SL had to chase 300+ against England back when 300+ scores were not quite as common. Murali got called for chucking in that game and ended up scoring the winning run off the last ball of the game or something like that. Roshan Mahanama batted really low down the order in that game, picked a fight with Stewart and Gough, and scraped together some crucial lower order runs to give us a chance. All-in-all a very eventful game.

 

[randycricfreak]

I'm shocked by how highly people seem to rate Dilshan. I can sort of understand why Sanga is overrated but I can't quite understand the Dilshan fans. Are recent events just too fresh in everyone's minds or something?

DIlshan often goes unnoticed.But whats important to notice is that Dilshan was one of most consistent bats since the dawn of the new decade and maybe a year before.Dilshan did score a 190 odd at Lord's,140+ in Australia in Tests. In ODIs definite top 5 bats during the last few years of his career.

 

[vcs]

Dilshan vs. Ganguly in ODIs would be an interesting comparison.

 

[randycricfreak]

I'm shocked by how highly people seem to rate Dilshan. I can sort of understand why Sanga is overrated but I can't quite understand the Dilshan fans. Are recent events just too fresh in everyone's minds or something?

Batting records | One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

This is exactly why.
Dilshan is the most run scorer in ODIs since he started opening back in 2009, till his retirement.He holds the third most 100s jointly with Amla.(21). Kohli(25) and AB (22) above him

Dilshan 7296
Sanga 7275
Kohli 7053
ABD 6412
Amla 6077

 

[vitalogy83]

I feel Mahela just didn't convert his starts more often. He plays himself in and then gets out in an effort to lift the run rate. His record is comparable to Sanath in terms of average and runs scored, but I think you'll find that Jayasuriya ended up making teams pay for not getting him out early. I feel Mahela really should have played as an opener more and he had some success with it towards the end of his career.

He's easily my favourite batsmen of the lot and its great to watch him play spin in particular. I reckon he had more talent than all the players mentioned in this thread (Aravinda included) but he just didn't make the most of it. Despite scoring 12K+ ODI runs, I think you can still say with some justification that he fell short of expectations.

Yea this..it was a big misstep when SL did not open with Mahela more often..he made it clear that he wanted to but I think the team/coaches felt that he needed to bat in the middle order to prop it up..it's a great case of what could have been in ODI's for Mahela..he was such a classy attacking player and had enough of a technique to have done really well in LOI's as an opener..but it was not to be.

 

[weldone]

This is my ranking in ODIs:
1. Jayasuriya
2. de Silva
3. Ranatunga
4. Sangakkara
5. Dilshan
6. Jayawardene
7. Roy Dias

 

[Daemon]

Why Ranatunga over Sanga?