Roshan Mahanama

Deshabandu Roshan Siriwardene Mahanama (Sinhala: රොෂාන් මහානාම; born 31 May 1966 in Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a former ICC match referee.[1] He was a key member for 1996 Cricket World Cup winning team for Sri Lanka. He is the first man to have stood as a match referee in a day-night test match in Test history.

Roshan Mahanama
රොෂාන් මහානාම

Personal information
Full name	Roshan Siriwardene Mahanama
Born	31 May 1966 Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon
Nickname	Maha
Batting	Right-hand
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	Sri Lanka (1986–1999)
Test debut (cap 36)	14 March 1986 v Pakistan
Last Test	27 March 1998 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 45)	2 March 1986 v Pakistan
Last ODI	30 May 1999 v Kenya
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988/89–1992	Colombo Cricket Club
1994/95–1998/99	Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs FC List A Matches 52 213 137 253 Runs scored 2,576 5,162 6,698 6,472 Batting average 29.27 29.49 34.40 30.96 100s/50s 4/11 4/35 12/31 6/42 Top score 225 119* 225 119* Balls bowled 36 2 36 2 Wickets 0 0 – 0 Bowling average – – – – 5 wickets in innings – – – – 10 wickets in match – – – – Best bowling – – – – Catches/stumpings 56/– 109/– 136/- 121/–
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 30 November 2015

In September 2015, Mahanama said that he would step down from the ICC match referee panel at the end of the year; he will spend his time with his family and his businesses.[2]

International career

Roshan is the 36th Sri Lanka Test Cap where he played Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan at Colombo 1985/86.[3]

Although he averaged less than 30 at Test cricket, he did score four centuries, including a top score of 225 for the Sri Lankan cricket team against India at Colombo, where he shared a then world record second wicket partnership of 576 runs with Sanath Jayasuriya.[4] This record was surpassed in July 2006 as the largest partnership in Test match history by fellow Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who put on 624 against South Africa.[5] The partnership between Jayasuriya-Mahanama still stands as the highest partnership for the second wicket in Test cricket.

Mahanama established himself as stylish opening batsman in the late 1980s & early 1990s under the captaincy of Aravinda de Silva. In the 1992 Cricket World Cup, Roshan Mahanama was selected as opening batsman along with M.A.R. Samarasekera & U.C. Hathurusingha, scoring 59 runs off 89 balls v.s. Zimbabwe, 80 runs off 131 balls v.s. New Zealand & 68 runs off 121 balls v.s. South Africa.

'Retired hurt' is common parlance in cricket, but that is the name former Sri Lankan cricketer Roshan Mahanama chose for his biography, reflecting his feelings after he was not considered for selection in the One-dayers and Tests, following the team's disastrous showing in the 1999 World Cup.

The authorities told Mahanama that he was dropped to groom young talent. But then players older than him found a place, and that hurt the veteran. As a matter of principle and self-respect he decided to retire. These facts are mentioned in the book 'Retired hurt,' penned by noted Australian sports chronicler Ken Piesse, based on 40 hours of taped narration on Roshan's experience on and off the field.

Match referee

Following his retirement from international cricket in 1999, Roshan Mahanama made the transition into becoming an International Cricket Council match referee. He made his debut as a match referee in the ODI between West Indies and Bangladesh in Kingstown 2004. In the same series, he made his Test debut and to date, he has refereed in 61 Tests. On 21 October 2014 during ODI series between New Zealand and South Africa, Roshan Mahanama entered the elite group of match referees who have officiated 200+ matches.[6]

Mahanama step down [7] from the match referee at the last test of New Zealand v Australia with having joined the elite panel in 2004 and has refereed in 61 Tests, 222 ODIs and 35 T20Is till 15 September, including in three World Cups and the Champions Trophy 2009. Mahanama became the first match referee to be acted in a day-night Test match in the history of the game, where the pink ball was used for the first time as well.

International Centuries

As an opener in the first few years at career, Mahanama was later moved to middle order rigid batsmen with the new openers Romesh Kaluwitharana and Sanath Jayasuriya due to the revolutionized batting display gave them the permanent opening positions. Anyway, until retirement, Mahanama has scored 4 Test centuries and 4 ODI centuries.

Test Centuries

The following table illustrates a summary of the Test centuries scored by Roshan Mahanama

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

Test Centuries of Roshan Mahanama
	Runs	Match	Against	City, Country	Venue	Start date	Result
[1]	153	15	New Zealand	Moratuwa, Sri Lanka	Tyronne Fernando Stadium	27 November 1992	Drawn
[2]	109	16	New Zealand	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground	6 December 1992	Won
[3]	151	20	India	Colombo, Sri Lanka	P. Saravanamuttu Stadium	4 August 1993	Drawn
[4]	225	44	India	Colombo, Sri Lanka	R. Premadasa Stadium	2 August 1997	Drawn

ODI Centuries

The following table illustrates a summary of the ODI centuries scored by Roshan Mahanama

ODI Centuries of Roshan Mahanama
	Runs	Match	Against	City, Country	Venue	Date	Result
[1]	107	72	New Zealand	Colombo, Sri Lanka	R. Premadasa Stadium	13 December 1992	Won
[2]	119*	108	Zimbabwe	Harare, Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	3 November 1994	Won
[3]	108	109	Zimbabwe	Harare, Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	5 November 1994	Won
[4]	101	124	West Indies	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Stadium	11 October 1995	Won

International match referee statistics

As of the 30 March 2016:

	First	Latest	Total
Tests	West Indies v Bangladesh at Gros Islet, 28 May 2004	Australia v New Zealand at Adelaide, 27 Nov 2015	61
ODIs	West Indies v Bangladesh at Kingstown, 15 May 2004	South Africa v New Zealand at Durban, 26 Aug 2015	222
T20Is	Australia v New Zealand at Perth, 11 Dec 2007	South Africa v New Zealand at Centurion, 16 Aug 2015	35

International awards

Man of the Match awards

No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	India	Wankhede Stadium, Bombay	17 January 1987	1 Ct. ; 98 (91 balls: 7x4)	India won by 10 runs.[8]
2	New Zealand	Bellerive Oval, Hobart	12 January 1988	1 Ct. ; 58 (83 balls: 4x4, 1x6)	Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets.[9]
3	Pakistan	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka	27 October 1988	3 Ct. ; 55 (92 balls: 3x4)	Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets.[10]
4	New Zealand	P Sara Oval, Colombo	12 December 1992	2 Ct. ; 84* (109 balls: 7x4, 1x6)	Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.[11]
5	New Zealand	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	13 December 1992	107 (132 balls: 7x4)	Sri Lanka won by 31 runs.[12]
6	India	Tyronne Fernando Stadium, Moratuwa	14 August 1993	1 Ct. ; 92 (143 balls: 8x4)	Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets.[13]
7	Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club, Harare	3 November 1994	119* (142 balls: 8x4)	Sri Lanka won by 56 runs.[14]
8	West Indies	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	11 October 1995	101 (153 balls: 5x4, 1x6)	Sri Lanka won by 6 runs.[15]

See also

• Elite Panel of ICC Referees

References

1. Observer schoolboy cricketers Madugalle and Mahanama now International Match Referees!, Sunday Observer, 28 June 2009, retrieved 3 April 2012
2. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/920731.html
3. "Players / Sri Lanka / Test caps". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
4. World record-holder Mahanama Observer Schoolboy Cricketer in 1983 and 1984, Sunday Observer, 6 April 2008, archived from the original on 1 March 2012, retrieved 3 April 2012
5. "Test matches – Partnership records – Highest partnerships for any wicket". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
6. Mahanama becomes fourth match referee to achieve 200-ODI landmark, , 21 October 2014, retrieved 21 October 2014 External link in |publisher= (help)
7. "Mahanama to step down from ICC match referee panel". ESPNcricinfo. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
8. "1986–1987 India v Sri Lanka – 5th Match – Mumbai (Bombay)".
9. "1987–1988 Benson & Hedges World Series Cup – 7th Match – New Zealand v Sri Lanka – Hobart".
10. "1988–1989 Wills Asia Cup – 1st Match – Pakistan v Sri Lanka – Dhaka (Dacca)".
11. "1992–1993 Sri Lanka v New Zealand – 2nd Match – Colombo".
12. "1992–1993 Sri Lanka v New Zealand – 3rd Match – Colombo".
13. "1993–1994 Sri Lanka v India – 3rd Match – Moratuwa".
14. "1994–1995 Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka – 1st Match – Harare".
15. "1995–1996 Singer Champions Trophy – 1st Match – Sri Lanka v West Indies – Sharjah".

External links

• Roshan Mahanama at ESPNcricinfo
• Roshan Mahanama at CricketArchive (subscription required)
• President To Honor Sri Lankan Cricketers (1 Nov 1996)
• National Awards Conferred by His Excellency the President of Sri Lenka
• Deshabandu Roshan Mahanama – a gentleman to his finger tips