Lindamlilage Prageeth Chamara Silva (; born 14 December 1979) is a former Sri Lankan

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who played all formats of the game for 12 years. He is a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and a leg-break bowler. He has been compared with

Aravinda de Silva Deshabandu Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva (, ; born 17 October 1965) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, regarded as one of the best Sri Lankan cricketers, he played in the team as an all-rounder. De Silva was a key member of the Sri L ...

due to his bow-legged stance. Silva was an important member of three World runner-up Sri Lanka teams in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Early and domestic career

He was educated at the

Panadura Royal College Royal College Panadura (also known as Royal Panadura and Panadura Royal) () is a provincial school in Panadura, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an i ...

. Having set a steady record for his club

Panadura Panadura (; ) is a main city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province in Sri Lanka. It is located approximately south of Colombo. Panadura was an electoral district in Sri Lanka until 1989 and is surrounded all sides b ...

, he captained the team and secured a good record including a 54 on his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut against

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. Since 1998, he has played List A cricket and since 2004, Twenty20 cricket with moderate success and steady averages. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

debut on 17 August 2004, for

Sinhalese Sports Club The Sinhalese people, Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) was a first-class cricket club in Colombo, Sri Lanka till 2025 when they were relegated after enduring a horrendous 2024-25 version of the Major Club 3 day tournament in which they could only m ...

in the

2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament The 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament is the 1st season of the official Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Sri Lanka. 15 teams in total, five representing four provinces of Sri Lanka Provinces (; ) are the first level administrative divis ...

. In March 2018, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament. The following month, he was also named in Colombo's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. In March 2019, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament. Having represented the

Sri Lanka Police Sri Lanka Police (; ) is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the p ...

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).

International career

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 Deshabandu Marvan Samson Atapattu (, , born 22 November 1970) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, commentator and former professional cricketer. He played international cricket for the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1990 to 2007. A top-order batsman, ...

. 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 Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015. A former captain in all formats. He was born in Matale, Central Province. In first-class cricke ...

. 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 Deshabandu Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas (born 27 January 1974) is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer who represented the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a fast medium pace bowler and regarded as one ...

, putting on 88 runs together) before running out of partners. Silva scored his first

hundred against India just 3 weeks before the World Cup. 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

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Chamara 1979 births Living people Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Sri Lankan sportsmen Basnahira South cricketers Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club cricketers Panadura Sports Club cricketers Sinhalese Sports Club cricketers Deccan Chargers cricketers Sri Lankan expatriate cricketers in India Sri Lankan cricketers Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Wayamba cricketers Ruhuna cricketers Ruhuna Royals cricketers Sri Lanka Cricket Combined XI cricketers Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Cricketers from Panadura Sri Lankan police inspectors