Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene has been conferred the Nalanda Keerthi Sri honorary title, in recognition of his contribution to cricket and his long service to the game, Hiru News reported.
The honour recognises the excellence and leadership of his playing career, and the international standing he brought to Nalanda College, Colombo, where he was educated.
The Nalanda Keerthi Sri title is conferred on past pupils whose exceptional achievements have brought distinction and honour to the school.
The record behind the award
Regarded as one of the finest cricketers Sri Lanka has produced, Jayawardene played 149 Test matches and 448 one-day internationals, accumulating more than 25,000 runs across all formats of international cricket. He also captained the national side.
Since retiring from international cricket he has continued to work in the game in coaching and advisory roles.
Jayawardene most recently featured in this desk’s coverage when he stepped down from his role with the Mumbai Indians in October.
Not reported
The filing does not say when or where the title was conferred, whether a ceremony has taken place or is still to come, or who else was honoured in the same round. It does not state which year’s award this is, and gives no quote from Jayawardene or from the school.
On sourcing: this report rests on a single verified source, Hiru News. A search across the Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, Island, Daily FT, Daily News and the Sunday Times returned no English-language filing on the award. That search did establish that the Nalanda Keerthi Sri is a long-running annual honour for distinguished old boys — the first ceremony was held in 2003 — but returned no verified report of this conferral, so the detail above stands on the Hiru filing alone.
