Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene, known as Mahela Jayawardene born 27 May 1977, is the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s. In 2006, he was named by the International Cricket Council as the best international captain of the year. He is also known for his fielding skills in the inner ring, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the most number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the fifth highest success rate.
Jayawardene was educated at one of the leading schools in Sri Lanka, Nalanda College, Colombo. It was there that he learned to play cricket. He developed his talents through the school cricket team, eventually becoming captain. He was runner-up for the best schoolboy cricketer award during the 1994 cricketing season.