Roshan Mahanama:
Sri Lankan batsman Roshan Mahanama was a generous but talented batsman. He often agreed to swap his position in the team. He was brilliant both as a top order batsman and a middle order batsman.
Unlike most other cricketers Mahanama never had an easy entry into the national team. He had to sacrifice his position as a middle order batsman to play Test cricket. He made his debut against Pakistan in 1986 in order to balance the batting order .
But with the times, Mahanama’s position in the batting order kept on changing and he never had the comfort of a proper batting position whether it was in a Test or a one-day international. This in some way contributed to him not being as consistent and a heady scorer for his country.
He averaged a shade less than 30 in both types of games which does not justify his talent and calibre. He was more or less an unsung hero of Sri Lanka’s rise into the big league of world cricket. He was used productively down the order in the one-day game and he was a member of the Sri Lanka team when they won the World Cup in 1996.
An elegant right-hand batsman with the temperament to play long innings, Mahanama had his greatest day in Test cricket in August 1997 when he made a career-best 225 against India and shared with Bloomfield club mate Sanath Jayasuriya the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket – 576.