Lindamlilage Prageeth Chamara Silva (Sinhala: චාමර සිල්වා; born 14 December 1979) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, who played all formats of the game for 12 years. He is a right-handed batsman and a leg-break bowler.[1]

Chamara Silva
Personal information
Full name
Lindamalilage Prageeth Chamara Silva
Born (1979-12-14) 14 December 1979 (age 45)
Panadura, Sri Lanka
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg-spin
RoleBatsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 105)7 December 2006 v New Zealand
Last Test3 April 2008 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 101)26 August 1999 v Australia
Last ODI23 November 2011 v Pakistan
T20I debut (cap 6)22 December 2006 v New Zealand
Last T20I25 November 2011 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2007–Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club
2005–2007Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club
2003–2005Sinhalese Sports Club
1996–2003Panadura Sports Club
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I
Matches 11 75 16
Runs scored 537 1,587 175
Batting average 33.56 28.85 13.46
100s/50s 1/2 1/13 0/0
Top score 152* 107* 38
Balls bowled 102 42 18
Wickets 1 1 1
Bowling average 65.00 33.00 15.00
5 wickets in innings 0 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0
Best bowling 1/57 1/21 1/4
Catches/stumpings 7/– 20/– 5/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  Sri Lanka
ICC Cricket World Cup
Runner-up 2007 West-Indies
Runner-up 2011 India–Bangladesh–Sri Lanka
ICC T20 World Cup
Runner-up 2009 England
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 9 February 2017

He has been compared with Aravinda de Silva due to his bow-legged stance. Silva was an important member of three World runner-up Sri Lanka teams in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Early and domestic career

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He was educated at the Panadura Royal College.[2][3] Having set a steady record for his club Panadura, he captained the team and secured a good record including a 54 on his One Day International debut against Australia. Since 1998, he has played List A cricket and since 2004, Twenty20 cricket with moderate success and steady averages. He made his Twenty20 debut on 17 August 2004, for Sinhalese Sports Club in the 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament.[4]

In March 2018, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament.[5][6] The following month, he was also named in Colombo's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[7] In March 2019, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[8]

Having represented the Sri Lanka Police cricket team that won joint champion status in the 2023 Sri Lanka Cricket first-class competition, Silva was appointed to the police service in the rank of chief inspector of police (CIP).[9]

International career

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He made his Test debut in New Zealand and had the worst possible start being dismissed for a pair just like his teammate Marvan Atapattu. He was given a second chance however and immediately justified his selection with an entertaining 61 in the first innings of the 2nd Test, enjoying a 121 run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara. In the second innings he improved further, making a very aggressive unbeaten 152, hitting 20 fours and batting right through with the tail (most notably Chaminda Vaas, putting on 88 runs together) before running out of partners.

Silva scored his first One Day International hundred against India just 3 weeks before the World Cup.[10] His good form continued in the Cricket World Cup 2007, he managed to make 350 runs with an average of 43.75 with 4 half centuries and a highest score of 64. His success in the middle order has helped to give Sri Lanka a boost in their one-day and test sides particularly after veteran middle order batsmen Russel Arnold announced his retirement at the end of the World Cup.

Fixing allegations

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Chamara Silva has been banned from all forms of cricket from September 2017 for two years due to the alleged misconduct during a domestic first class cricket match between Panadura Cricket Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club along with Manoj Deshapriya. Chamara Silva, the captain of the Panadura Cricket Club was found guilty for match-fixing allegations after the unusual scoring rate by Panadura side in a first class cricket match in January 2017.[11][12]

References

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  1. ^ "Chamara Silva profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos".
  2. ^ St. John's vs Royal Panadura clash will be interesting
  3. ^ St John's and Panadura Royal clash on March 15 and 16 Archived 15 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "1st Round, Colombo, Aug 17 2004, Twenty-20 Tournament". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Cricket: Mixed opinions on Provincial tournament". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  6. ^ "All you need to know about the SL Super Provincial Tournament". Daily Sports. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  7. ^ "SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Four Sri Lankan cricketers join Sri Lanka Police". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  10. ^ "India v Sri Lanka 2006-07". ESPNcricinfo. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  11. ^ Weerasinghe, Damith (16 September 2017). "Chamara Silva suspended; Local match fixing verdict released". Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Chamara Silva banned for two years from cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 October 2017.