Who is Tillakaratne Dilshan

New Delhi:

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who is under the ICC scanner for his alleged links with a bookie, is one of the most accomplished Sri Lankan cricketers.

Hailed as a genuine all-rounder, Dilshan made his international debut in 1999 against Zimbabwe. It started with a bang, as he scored an unbeaten 163 against Zimbabwe in his debut Test. He is a sharp point fielder and a useful off-spinner.

Technically sound and aggressive batting style makes Dilshan indispensable for the Lankan team. his street-smart cricketer has the ability to cut loose once he gets set.

In his 63-Tests long career so far, in which he has scored 3906 runs and picked 16 wickets. In 188 ODIs, he has scored 4860 runs and picked 54 wickets.

After 2007 World Cup, Dilshan was dropped from the side but he made a strong comeback in the final Test against England with a gritty knock of 84 runs and ever since has been an integral part of the Sri Lankan cricket team.

Year 2009 was one of the best periods of his career. He was promoted up the batting order and that move worked. He scored heavily in all three formats. He scored eleven centuries last year.

For his knock of 96 runs off 57 balls against West Indies in the ICC World T20 semi-final, Dilshan won the award of Twenty20 International Performance of the Year at the ICC awards 2009.

In the recently concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka, he was dragged in a controversy when reports suggested that it was Dilshan who had asked spinner Suraj Randiv to bowl the last ball of the Indian innings a no-ball to deprive Indian batsman Virender Sehwag of his century. Though India won the match, Sehwag was left stranded on 99.