Romesh Shantha Kaluwitharana (born November 24, 1969, Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

) is a former Sri Lankan cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er who played in 49 Test

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 and 189 ODIs from 1990 to 2004. He was appointed as the interim cricket coach of Malaysia on the 17th of May 2008.

His early career made him look like a good Sri Lankan prospect, and the undoubted highlight of his career was the entertaining innings of 132 not out (including 26 boundaries) that he made on Test debut against a powerful Australian side in 1992. However, he failed to deliver on his promise in a declining Sri Lankan team (prior to the revival of Sri Lankan cricket at the 1996 World Cup

1996 Cricket World Cup

The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council . It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka...

).

Once in the national side, he sometimes threw his wicket

Wicket

In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

 away due to poor shot-selection and was suspect to the swinging

Swing bowling

Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...

 delivery. However he relished pace and would often be quick to put away any delivery off line or length. His greatest contribution to ODIs came after he was promoted to the top of the batting order to partner opener Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. An all-rounder, he played for the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1989 to 2011...

 during the 1995-96 tour of Australia, helping to give birth to an aggressive batting approach in the first fifteen overs of fielding restrictions

Fielding restrictions (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, different fielding restrictions are imposed depending on the type of match. They are used to discourage certain bowling tactics, or to encourage the batsmen to play big shots, enabling them to hit 4s and 6s. Each team has nine fielders other than the wicket-keeper and...

. This new strategy of attacking from the outset heavily contributed to Sri Lanka to win all their matches and secure the 1996 Cricket World Cup

1996 Cricket World Cup

The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council . It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka...

 as all other teams were not prepared for such an attack. Kaluwitharana was the wicket keeper and opener with Jayasuriya in that world cup series that was captained by Arjuna Ranatunga

Arjuna Ranatunga

Arjuna Ranatunga is a retired Sri Lankan cricketer and politician. He was the captain of Sri Lankan cricket team, and led them to an unbeaten title-winning campaign at the 1996 Cricket World Cup...

.

The two of them revolutionized the one day game and their tactics are now commonly used by limited overs openers.

Kaluwitharana has spent a number of years contributing to charity work in the impoverished Northern part of Sri-Lanka along with his long time cricket companion Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

.

Career Centuries

Test Centuries

The following table illustrates a summary of the Test centuries scored by Romesh Kaluwitharana

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

Test Centuries of Romesh Kaluwitharana
	|Match	|City/Country	|Year
[1]	132*	1	Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	Colombo Colombo Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo... , Sri Lanka	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground Sinhalese Sports Club Ground The Sinhalese Sports Club is one of the most famous cricket grounds in Sri Lanka. It is theheadquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket, the controlling body of cricket in Sri Lanka. The Ground often cited as the Lord's of Sri Lanka, hosting most domestic finals and one of preeminent international cricket...	1992
[2]	103	9	New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...	Dunedin Dunedin Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until... , New Zealand	Carisbrook Carisbrook Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it has also been used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league and motocross. Carisbrook has also hosted a Joe Cocker concert and frequently hosted pre-game...	1997
[3]	100	26	Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...	Lahore Lahore Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a... , Pakistan	Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium is a cricket ground in Lahore, Pakistan. It was designed by Daghestani-born architect and engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan who also designed Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. Following the ground's renovation for the 1996 Cricket World...	1999

One Day International Centuries

ODI Centuries of Romesh Kaluwitharana
	|Match	|City/Country	|Year
[1]	100*	56	Kenya Kenya Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...	Nairobi Nairobi Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is... , Kenya	Gymkhana Club Ground	1996
[2]	102*	156	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Colombo Colombo Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo... , Sri Lanka	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground Sinhalese Sports Club Ground The Sinhalese Sports Club is one of the most famous cricket grounds in Sri Lanka. It is theheadquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket, the controlling body of cricket in Sri Lanka. The Ground often cited as the Lord's of Sri Lanka, hosting most domestic finals and one of preeminent international cricket...	2001