Why is Sri Lanka so much in awe of Aravinda De Silva ?

[King Tendulkar]

World class player . Sri Lankan legend . 

 

Box office when on song

[rahulrulezz]

As everyone above said, the guy was a legend. Used to give me nighmares, the guy used to

smock us every single time. I never worried about Jayasurya, Murli or Vaas, but  till DeSilva was there, there was no chance of winning. Can not forget his innings in SFs against us. 

[sandeep]

^ smock?  smoke and smack??  I must be getting old.  Can't keep up with all this new-fangled slang.

[narenpande1]

Here is how lady Jaya pegged Arvinda to Sanga.

 

http://m.timesofindia.com/sports/india-in-australia/top-stories/Sangakkara-is-best-batsman-Sri-Lanka-ever-produced-Jayawardene/articleshow/48412422.cms

[jinjar]

I remember couple of things about him...

1. His front foot pull of slightly short ball for six, it wasn't a hoick, he seemed to transition from initial defensive setup into pull, his body and footing used to be stable and looked stationary, only his hands moved.
2. Amount of time he had while playing spinners.

[nevada]

Not everything can be comprehended in terms of mere stats alone. He was a transformative player whose batting helped SL break through to the next level. Plus his batting style was attractive and entertaining. 

[kira]

I started watching cricket from the 96 world cup and de silva was da man during those days, we didn't have cricinfo those days so didn't know his exact stats but I did know that he was sri lanka's best batsman and he played quite few painful knocks against India too, to add cherry at the top he won lanka the world cup and absolutely beasted the final of the world cup, no wonder lankans hold him in high regard, Even I rate him as a greater player than sangakara (who boosted his stats at the end of his career)

[renjith]

21 hours ago, BeautifulGame said:

He basically won them the world Cup with his knocks in world Cup semi final and final.

There is nothing greater .

Fans are in awe of great moments not meaningless stats

To score a match winning hundred in a world Cup final chasing

+1

Stats never did justice to de silva's class.