 Atapattu giving slip catching practice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Marvan Samson Atapattu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1970-11-22)22 November 1970 (age 54) Kalutara,Ceylon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armleg spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Opening batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 46) | 23 November 1990 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 16 November 2007 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 59) | 1 December 1990 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 17 February 2007 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 46 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990/91–2006/07 | Sinhalese Sports Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Delhi Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:CricketArchive,27 September 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DeshabanduMarvan Samson Atapattu (Sinhala:මාවන් සැම්සන් අතපත්තු,[ma:ʋənsæmsənaθəpaθθu], born 22 November 1970) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, commentator and formercricketer who played for 17 years for Sri Lanka.[1] Considered one of the most technically sound batsman in his era, Atapattu has scored six double centuries in Test cricket for Sri Lanka, irrespective of five ducks in his first six innings. Atapattu also captained the Sri Lankan team which won the2004 Asia Cup. He was a part of the Sri Lankan squad which won the1996 Cricket World Cup.
He has previously coached theCanada andSingapore national cricket teams.[2] From April 2014 to September 2015, he was the head coach ofSri Lankan Cricket Team.[3][4]
Marvan Atapattu started his cricket career as a teenager atMahinda College,Galle, where Major G. W. S. de Silva was his first cricket coach.[5] Then he moved toAnanda College,Colombo, where he was subsequently coached by P. W. Perera.[5]
Making his Test debut in November 1990 just after his 20th birthday, Atapattu's first sixinnings yielded fiveducks and a 1,[6] and he was the first Sri Lankan batsman to be dismissed for a pair on debut.[7] After this difficult start in his first three matches, he did not score above 29 in his next 11 innings, before hitting his first Testcentury in his 10th match, againstIndia, seven years after his debut. He has 22Test-match career ducks and fourpairs (two ducks in a single Test), both records for a top-order batsman.
He made his One-Day International debut against India atNagpur. He was appointed as captain of the one-day team in April 2003. He registered his highest Test score of 249 against Zimbabwe in 2004, sharing a 438-run partnership withKumar Sangakkara for the second wicket. Atapattu scored a century in the first innings of the Second Test during his team'stour of Australia in 2004 inCairns, Queensland. His third century in five innings, he made 133.[8] A "determin[ed]" Atapattu,ESPNcricinfo wrote, "pull[ed] authoritatively ... tuck[ed] in neatly behind the ball."[9] He finished the two-match series scoring 156 runs at anaverage of 39.00 and was the top-scorer for his side.[10]
Atapattu was a skilfulfielder with an accurate throw. A report prepared by ESPNcricinfo in late 2005 showed that since the1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the second highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the seventh-highest success rate.[11] He was controversially[12] left out of the squad for the2007 Cricket World Cup, and as a result, asked for his removal from the list ofSri Lanka contracted players. Atapattu was to miss the 2007–08 tour of Australia, but was added to the squad after the intervention of Sri Lankan Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge. Atapattu played solidly in the First Test, but subsequently angrily labelled the selectors: "A set ofmuppets, basically, headed by a joker," at a post-stumps press conference.
After Sri Lanka lost the series 2–0, Atapattu announced his international retirement after the second Test atHobart.[13] He finished with 5,502 Test runs at an average of 39.02 in 90 Tests with a One-day International average of 37.57 after hitting 8,529 runs in 268 matches. Atapattu scored six double centuries and sixteen centuries in his Test cricket career.[14] He has scored centuries against all Test-playing nations.
Atapattu scored his first test century in 1997, seven year after his debut, against India, and in that cricket match he made 108 runs as the match was played at thePunjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium inMohali.[15]
His highest Test score of 249 came againstZimbabwe in 2004 atBulawayo.[15] His score of 127 in 2005 againstNew Zealand was his last Test century.[15] As of August 2015, Atapattu is sixth in the list of most double hundreds scored in Test matches.[16]
Atapattu scored his first ODI century in 1997 when he scored 118 in 2-run victory against India at theR. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.[17] AtLord's in 1998, Atapattu scored 132not out againstEngland, his highest score in this format of the game.[17] He also scored two centuries in the2003 Cricket World Cup: against Zimbabwe he scored 103 not out and against South Africa, only the 19thtied ODI in cricket history, he made 124. He was selected asman of the match on both occasions.[18] His innings of 111 againstPakistan in 2004 was his last ODI century.[17]
| No. | Score | Opponent | Venue | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 118 |  India | R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo, Sri Lanka | 17 August 1997 | [35] |
| 2 | 132not out |  England | Lord's, London, England | 20 August 1998 | [36] |
| 3 | 119not out |  Pakistan | National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan | 13 February 2000 | [37] |
| 4 | 100 | Pakistan | Bangabandhu National Stadium,Dhaka, Bangladesh | 7 July 2000 | [38] |
| 5 | 102not out | India | Sharjah Cricket Stadium,Sharjah,United Arab Emirates | 27 October 2000 | [39] |
| 6 | 101 |  Netherlands | R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo, Sri Lanka | 16 September 2002 | [40] |
| 7 | 123not out |  South Africa | Willowmoore Park,Benoni, South Africa | 1 December 2002 | [41] |
| 8 | 101 |  Australia | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia | 9 January 2003 | [42] |
| 9 | 124 | South Africa | Kingsmead,Durban, South Africa | 3 March 2003 | [43] |
| 10 | 103not out |  Zimbabwe | Buffalo Park,East London, South Africa | 15 March 2003 | [44] |
| 11 | 111 | Pakistan | Gaddafi Stadium,Lahore, Pakistan | 14 October 2004 | [45] |
In 2009, Atapattu had a coaching stint with the Fingara Cricket Academy, a coaching facility in Sri Lanka. He had a short stint asCanada's batting coach in early 2009,[46] subsequently helping them qualify for the2011 World Cup. In 2010, he was named as head coach of theSingaporean cricket team for a one-year period, which was his first full-time assignment of a coach of a national side. His first task wasWorld Cricket League Division 5 inNepal where the team finished third in the group stage and remained in division 5 for 2012 World League.
In April 2011, after the World Cup, Atapattu was named as the batting coach ofSri Lankan national team and joined interim coachStuart Law,Champaka Ramanayake andRuwan Kalpage for thetour of England. Meanwhile, he was considered for the head coach job of the team, which eventually went toPaul Farbrace, in 2013. Atapattu was promoted to the post of an assistant coach. Following Farbrace's early unexpected exit in 2014, he was appointed as interim head coach of the team.[3] During this period, Sri Lanka won its first Test series in England in 16 years, with a 1–0 win in its2014 tour.[4] He officially took over as head coach in September 2014, and was the team's first local coach in 15 years. A 5–2ODI series win duringEngland's 2014 tour of Sri Lanka was the only series win for Sri Lanka after he formally took over. After consecutive Test series defeats againstIndia andPakistan, he resigned in September 2015.[4]
| Preceded by | Sri Lankan Test captain 2004–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sri Lankan ODI cricket captain 2003–2006 |
