Thilan Samaraweera's batting will not fill a stadium; yet, in a batting line-up of flamboyant strokeplayers, his patience and solidity offers a vital balancing factor. In his second avatar he has added more strokes to make his batting more well-rounded, but what Samaraweera does best is wear bowlers down through patient and relentless accumulation. His batting is built around reserves of resilience, determination and sheer toughness, and he had to draw into them all to overcome the trauma of cricket's darkest hours - the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

Samaraweera will forever be remembered for not letting a bullet injury end his international career. He was in his best form, having scored two consecutive double-centuries in Pakistan, when his team bus came under fire in March 2009 and a bullet penetrated 12 inches into his left thigh. He needed surgery and spent three months dealing with the physical and mental wounds of his ordeal. That Samaraweera returned to play his 50th Test in July was a triumph of his strength of character.

His return was a second coming after he had begun his career with a hundred on debut against India in 2001. The retirements of Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillakaratne gave Samaraweera a run in the middle order but indifferent form in 2006 led to him being dropped. He returned 18 months later, a more aggressive, prolific batsman and yet remained as solid as he was before, reigniting his career with a century against India in July 2008. It was the beginning of a purple patch which continued even after his run-in with gunmen.

Despite all the runs Samaraweera scored, question-marks remained due to his relative lack of success outside the subcontinent. Worse was to follow when he went through a wretched run of form against Australia at home, in 2011. He was subsequently dropped for the Tests against Pakistan in UAE, but defeat in that series forced the selectors to recall him for the South Africa tour. Samaraweera responded in style with two centuries when some of his more illustrious team-mates struggled to put bat to ball. Samaraweera's finest hour came when his century in Durban delivered Sri Lanka their first win in South Africa. If Samaraweera can perform similarly in England and Australia, he will rank among Sri Lanka's greats by the time he hangs his boots.
George Binoy

• November 6, 1998
  An uneventful ODI debut
  • Thilan Samaraweera makes his ODI debut against India in Sharjah but does not bat. Fails to cement a place in the ODI team and plays only eight matches between 1998 and 2001
    
• August 29-September 2, 2001
  A more eventful Test debut
  • Samaraweera scores a century on Test debut against India at the SSC
    
• October 21, 2004
  Century abroad, at last
  • Scores his first century away from the SSC in Colombo. Makes 100 against Pakistan in Faisalabad - his fourth Test hundred - in a low-scoring match that Sri Lanka win by 201 runs
    
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• May 2006
  Briefly in exile
  • Plays his last Test for 18 months. Samaraweera is cut from the squad following a lean run in 2005-06, after making double-digit scores only four times in his last 14 innings.
    
• November 8, 2007
  Second coming
  • Makes a comeback during the tour of Australia, scoring 13 and 20 in Brisbane
    
• April-July 2008
  Two Tests, two tons
  • Scores hundreds in consecutive Tests, against West Indies in Trinidad, and against India at the SSC. It's the beginning of a purple patch
    
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• February-March 2009
  Two Tests, two double tons
  • Scores consecutive double-centuries against Pakistan, in Karachi and Lahore. His partnership of 437 with Mahela Jayawardene in Karachi is a world record for the fourth wicket
    
• March 3, 2009
  Biting the bullet
  • Samaraweeera gets shot in the left thigh during a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team's bus while they were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Test is called off and the team returns to Sri Lanka
    
• July 4, 2009
  Back after surgery
  • Makes a return to the Test team after surgery and three months out of the game. Plays 50th Test against Pakistan in Galle
    
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• July 30, 2009
  Return to the shorter format
  • Plays first ODI since November 2005, against Pakistan in Dambulla, and scores 10
    
• September 8, 2009
  Finally, an ODI hundred
  • - Scores maiden ODI century - 104 versus New Zealand in Colombo- in his 22nd game. Gets a run in the ODI side thereafter
    
• October 1, 2009
  Recognition by the ICC
  • Gets named in the ICC Test team of the Year in the 2009 awards
    
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