Name:

de Silva, Pinnaduwage Aravinda

Nickname:

Mad Max

Date of Birth:

17 Oct 1965

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Colombo, Ceylon

Career:

Test: 1984 - 2002
ODI: 1984 - 2003

Teams:

Sri Lanka (Country)
Kent (Regional)

Career in Profile: Talking Cricket with Aravinda de Silva

Mainstay of Sri Lankan batting, dogged by match fixing claims

Aravinda de Silva is considered one of the finest batsmen produced by Sri Lanka. He possessed the strengths of many of the best: decisive footwork, superb technique and was strong square of the wicket.

He was an attacking player that unsettled bowlers. His record is unrivalled among countrymen having enjoyed a golden period from 1996-1998 where he was probably the best batsman in the world. His place in history secure after a match-winning century in the 1996 World Cup final.

His international career ended with the 2003 World Cup, where he batted with all the verve and panache of old, and bowled his offspinners cannily. Sri Lanka's cricket authorities ensured that his wealth of cricketing experience would not go waste, appointing him a national selector, a role that ended after the 2011 World Cup.

During the early part of his career he was known as a dashing but inconsistent batsman - he was given the nickname "Mad Max" for his tendency to get out to rash shots. He later commented on his aggressive batting style: "That's my natural game - I don't want to change because I feel confident playing that way. If someone is capable of dominating the bowling, they should do it. It's the way I've been playing since I was a youngster."

In latter years, Aravinda De Silva has been dogged by numerous allegations of match fixing. In India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report into the Hansie Cronje match fixing scandal, De Silva was accused of being involved with the notorious bookmaker MK Gupta in the 1990s, who alleged he had given the player money after a Test match in Lucknow in 1994 amongst many other damning allegations. Gupta also stated that Aravinda de Silva had introduced him to Martin Crowe in New Zealand, an issue that Crowe confirmed.

His team mate, Hashan Tillekeratne, then dropped another bombshell claiming that De Silva was engaged in match fixing stretching back to 1992. All of these allegations remains unanswered and muddies a superb record.