He was regularly touted as "the next Sri Lankan cricketer", working as an understudy to full-time keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana.
As a result, Jayawardene would only play two series over the next five years; one in 2002 against a touring Bangladeshi team of which the decision to permit Test status to was doubted, where he scored 5 and a duck in two innings, and one in 2004 against a Zimbabwean side without any notable players (the majority of the team had either left or been fired by a board in political turmoil) and which would, partially as a result of the series, have Test status stripped just a year later, with Prasanna scoring just 4 runs in a series where Sri Lanka scored over 500 runs in every innings they batted.
However, in 2007, his fortunes changed for the better, as the retirement of Kaluwitharana the year prior and the decision by Sri Lanka to allow a second keeper to be selected gave him another chance to play Test cricket.
He would grasp this opportunity with both hands, scoring decently (while he didn't score a 50 he averaged around 30) in series against New Zealand and South Africa before getting a breakout 120 against Bangladesh in a game of multiple firsts, bowler Chaminda Vaas batting alongside Jayawardene for six hours as they both registered their first Test century.
However, Jayawardene's form began to drop off significantly in 2012, and coupled with his senior age (33) and the retirements of Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela among others, Sri Lanka began to experiment with young keepers Kaushal Silva, Dinesh Chandimal and later Niroshan Dickwella, and an injury sustained from a Mitchell Johnson bouncer against Australia in late 2012 was the nail in the coffin.