Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva has become the third batsman to score 8,000 runs in Limited Overs International cricket after Desmond Haynes and Mohammad Azharuddin. An average of over 36 and a strike rate in the 80's speak for themselves: De Silva has been Sri Lanka's best batsmen for many years, and one of the world's best today.

De Silva, born on 17 October 1965, made his debut in this form of cricket on 31 March 1984 against New Zealand at Moratuwa. The following tables show De Silva's performances in detail. As can be seen, he is the youngest of the three to reach the 8000-runs-mark.

Table (A) Batsmen scoring 8000 runs in a career

Player            Team Mts Ins NO  Runs  HS   Avg    H  F  Z  S/R
M Azharuddin      Ind  312 287 51  8873 153*  37.60  7 55  9  73.79
DL Haynes         WI   238 237 28  8648 152*  41.38 17 57 13  64.01
PA de Silva       SL   254 247 25  8020 145   36.12 11 55 12  81.79


Table (B) De Silva's batting record against all opponents

Vs    Mts  Inns  NO   Runs   HS    Avg    100 50  0   S/R

Pak    67   65    5   2155  134    35.92   3  12   4   84.42
Ind    53   50    5   1662  105    36.91   3  12   3   78.47
Aus    30   30    5   1289  107*   51.56   2   9   1   85.19
Zim    14   14    3    766  127*   69.64   2   5   0   88.97
NZ     31   31    3    748   66    26.71   0   7   2   74.06
WI     25   25    0    436   68    17.44   0   3   0   72.91
Eng    12   12    3    392   80    43.56   0   3   0   89.29
SA     15   15    1    232   73    16.57   0   2   2   64.44
Ken     2    2    0    200  145   100.00   1   1   0  123.46
Ban     5    3    0    140   89    46.67   0   1   0   57.95

Home   62   59   10   2224  145    45.39   5  14   0   86.41
Away  192  188   15   5796  134    33.49   6  41  12   80.12

TOTAL 254  247   25   8020  145    36.12  11  55  12   81.79


Table (C) De Silva's batting record in each season

Season    Mts  Inns  NO   Runs   HS    Avg    100 50  0    S/R

1983-84     4    4    1     40   14*   13.33   0   0   0   38.81
1984-85    11   11    3    314   81*   39.25   0   3   0   79.78
1985-86    15   13    0    240   86    18.46   0   2   2   84.85
1986-87     6    6    0     96   51    16.00   0   1   0   46.60
1987-88    18   18    2    486   88    30.38   0   4   0   74.09
1988-89     6    5    0    243   69    48.60   0   2   0   98.78
1989-90    16   16    0    488   96    30.50   0   3   1   90.02
1990-91    11   11    1    368  104    36.80   1   2   1   84.55
1991-92    13   12    0    255   62    21.25   0   1   0   68.00
1992-93    11   11    3    454  105    56.75   1   2   0  101.34
1993-94    20   20    2    627   68    34.83   0   7   1   71.41
1994-95    26   25    2    776  107*   33.74   1   5   1   80.75
1995-96    29   28    2    940  145    36.15   2   4   1   90.30
1996-97    24   24    5   1274  134    67.05   3   9   2   84.76
1997-98    31   30    3   1083  105    40.11   3   6   1   86.09
1998-99    13   13    1    336   81    27.91   0   4   2   66.27


Table (D) De Silva's batting record in each Place (country)

Place  Mts  Inns  NO   Runs   HS    Avg    100 50  0   S/R

SL      62   59   10   2224  145    45.39   5  14   0   86.41
Ind     37   36    4   1438  104    44.90   1  15   2   80.86
UAE     45   45    3   1302  134    31.00   1   8   3   74.97
Aus     43   42    3   1128   81*   28.92   0   8   1   77.66
Pak     22   22    3    618  107*   32.53   2   1   2   83.74
SA      12   12    0    361   95    30.08   0   4   2   79.17
NZ      11   11    0    251   66    22.82   0   2   1   68.02
Zim      3    3    2    239  107*  239.00   1   1   0  112.21
Ken      3    3    0    180  122    60.00   1   1   0  105.88
Ban      6    5    0    140   69    28.00   0   1   1  100.72
Eng      4    4    0     95   34    23.75   0   0   0   79.17
WI       2    2    0     32   25    16.00   0   0   0   78.05
Sin      4    3    0     12    7     4.00   0   0   0   57.14


Table (E) De Silva's Milestones

Milestone  Mts 	Ins  Age     Period     	Milestone reached
 1000       50 	 48  22/ 94   3/295      Aus Sydney          19 Jan 1988
 2000       77 	 74  25/ 45   6/246      Ind Nagpur          01 Dec 1990
 3000      112 	108  27/281   9/117      Ind Colombo (3)     25 Jul 1993
 4000      146 	141  29/ 48  10/249      Pak Centurion       04 Dec 1994
 5000      178 	173  30/140  11/341      Ken Kandy           06 Mar 1996
 6000      200 	194  31/168  13/  4      Zim Sharjah         03 Apr 1997
 7000      222 	216  32/ 22  13/223      SA  Lahore          08 Nov 1997
 8000      254 	247  33/165  14/364      Ind Pune            30 Mar 1999


Table (F) The 8000th run

Player         Team  Mts  Ins  Age     Period          Milestone reached
DL Haynes      WI    220  219  37/ 12  15/  6     Pak Johannesburg   27 Feb 1993
PA de Silva    SL    254  247  33/165  14/364     Ind Pune           30 Mar 1999
M Azharuddin   Ind   278  257  35/ 65  13/ 85     Aus Delhi (1)      14 Apr 1998

Contributed by: Atul Kahate (AKahate@yahoo.com)