Rani de Silva, mother of the former Sri Lanka captain Aravinda de Silva, has died, Hiru News reported on Monday.
Hiru describes her as a constant presence behind her son’s career, supporting him from his early years as a young cricketer through an international career that ran for close to two decades and the pressures that came with it.
Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced by the family. No date, time or location had been given at the time of writing.
Her son’s career
Aravinda de Silva is among the most decorated cricketers Sri Lanka has produced. He played 93 Tests and 308 One-Day Internationals.
His defining performance came in the 1996 World Cup final against Australia in Lahore, where he made an unbeaten 107 and was named Player of the Match as Sri Lanka won the tournament — still the country’s only men’s 50-over World Cup title. He also took three wickets in that match.
He has since served in senior roles in Sri Lankan cricket administration, including as chairman of selectors.
De Silva has been in the public eye this year for reasons unconnected with cricket: he and his wife gave evidence in the inquest into the death of former SriLankan Airlines chief executive Kapila Chandrasena, who was found dead at the cricketer’s residence in May.
A single-source report
Hiru News is so far the only verified newsroom to have reported the death. A search across the Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, Ada Derana, Daily FT, The Island, Colombo Gazette, Daily News and ESPNcricinfo found no other report, and neither the Daily Mirror’s nor NewsFirst’s current listings carried it. Hiru’s account gives no age, no date or cause of death, and no details of surviving family beyond her son.
