- TILEKARATNE DILSHAN (2009)
The 2009 ICC World T20 was the platform where Dilshan V 2.0 took over from Dilshan V 1.0. Until the second edition of the tournament got underway in England, the flashy Lankan batsman had been merely looked upon as a pinch hitter who could hit the occasional big scores if he had enough time to convert his starts into big ones.
He hit a crisp 46 (off 39 balls) in Sri Lanka’s Group F fixture against Pakistan at LORD’S, followed it with a sublime 48 (off 37 balls) against New Zealand at the Trent Bridge and further strengthened his cause at the top of the order with an effusive 96* (off 57 balls) in the Quarter Finals against West Indies at the Oval.
Although Sri Lanka got thumped by Pakistan in the final at LORD’S, Dilshan’s metamorphosis was evidently one of the bright spots in their campaign.
He tally accounted for 317 runs from 7 matches with 3 half centuries in that edition. He eventually got the taste of World Cup glory in 2014 when he was a part of the triumphant Lankan team which won the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh that year.
The 2016 ICC World T20 is his sixth World T20 event and the 39 year old veteran will leave no stone unturned to make his final World T20 appearance a memorable one.
