The first Sri Lankan cricketer to score over 10,000 runs, he was named ICC's Best International Captain of the Year in 2006.
He made his domestic debut with Sinhalese Sports Club in 1995.
He recorded the highest score ever by a Sri Lankan in Test cricket with 374 against South Africa in 2006.
He married Christina Mallika Sirisena in 2005. His brother Dhishal died of a brain tumor at age 16.
He and India's Sunil Gavaskar became two of the only batsman in history to have scored more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
