Mahela Jayawardene

Blessed with superb hand-eye coordination and a classical technique, Jayawardene scored all around the wicket. His languid cover-drive, wristy pick-up off his pads, and late cuts and dabs - especially against spin - were trademarks. Just as striking was his ability to go big: he shared a record 624-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara against South Africa in 2006, the highest in Tests for any wicket, and piled up double-hundreds with remarkable regularity. While his overseas record never quite matched his dominance at home, his best innings often carried the stamp of a player who could control tempo as well as compile runs.

Jayawardene evolved into an astute captain who read the game sharply and was unafraid of taking calculated risks. Under him, Sri Lanka reached the 2007 World Cup final, and he later returned for a second stint as captain before handing over to Angelo Mathews. In ODIs, his range expanded with age, and his unbeaten 103 in the 2011 World Cup final underlined his big-match temperament, adding to his century in the 2007 semi-final. His century against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup in 2010 was a shining example of traditional methods succeeding in a new format, and he was Sri Lanka's top scorer in their title-winning 2014 campaign in the same tournament.

Jayawardene produced three Test hundreds that year, including in a win against Pakistan in Dubai and a draw against South Africa at home. The home series against Pakistan that followed was his last, and he called it quits in international cricket after the ODI World Cup the following year.

He moved into coaching and management after his playing days, serving as head coach of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, and later taking on high-profile roles, including as Sri Lanka's coach, and a strategic leadership position with MI's global network of teams.