Ajit de Silva
Ginigalgodage Ramba Ajit de Silva, or Ajit de Silva, is a former Sri Lankan [cricket team|Sri Lankan] international cricketer, who played four Test matches and six One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka, bowling accurate slow left arm spin.
International career
He proved an important member of the national squad for several years until 1982/83, when he toured with the rebel Arosa Sri Lanka team to South Africa. Due to this, he was excluded from world cricket, along with the rest of the players on that tour. This effectively finished his first-class career, beginning in November 1973, in which he claimed 161 wickets.He played a crucial part in Sri Lanka's first ODI victory on home soil – against England in 1982. Sri Lanka had batted first, setting England 216 to win, and Graham Gooch and Geoff Cook had set a good platform as the score moved to 109 for no loss. However, de Silva removed both openers, four players were run out, and England lost by three runs.
In 1982 de Silva joined a "Rebel tour" to Apartheid-era South Africa. In Arosa [Sri Lanka cricket team in South Africa in 1982–83|the series] the "AROSA" Sri Lankans were soundly beaten. de Silva himself struggled with stress and had a breakdown on tour. He was given a 25-year ban by the Sri Lankan cricket authorities for participating in the rebel tour which was a breach of the boycott of South Africa during the [apartheid">Sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era">boycott of South Africa during the [apartheid era|boycott of South Africa] by global sporting bodies.