The first Sri Lankan to take a five-wicket haul in Tests, Somachandra de Silva was a classical leg spinner who relied on deceiving the batsmen in flight and with guile. A seasoned campaigner whose career for a major part happened when his country were an associate nation, de Silva did nevertheless get the opportunity to play a few games once Test status was granted. He was at the fag end of his career at that point. Apart from possessing a fine leg break, he also had a googly that could befuddle the best of
batsmen. During Sri Lanka's associate days, he spent a major time playing cricket around the globe for clubs.

With the bat, de Silva was no mug as he could pitch in with invaluable runs occasionally. He could dig in there and as his two Test fifties show, could hang on for a fair bit. De Silva also embraced temporary captaincy at one point when regular skipper Duleep Mendis was down with an injury. It was only for two Tests but he seemed to relish the role, more so with the bat as both the half centuries came as captain. A respected figure, de Silva spent a great deal of time in the administration of the game in Sri Lanka after his retirement days. Apart from being the cricket advisor to the country's President, he also served as a member of the interim committee that once ran Sri Lankan cricket.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan