Known as Sri Lanka's crisis man and for his slow strike rate,[1][2] He is also nicknamed “Bullet Samaraweera" following his wounding during the 2009 terror attack on his national team bus in Pakistan.

His brother-in-law Bathiya Perera has represented Sri Lanka A. Thilan played school cricket for Ananda College and emerged as a prolific batsman in inter-school competitions.

[9] Having worked on his batting considerably with his shadow coach Chandika Hathurusingha he got due reward by scoring century on debut against a strong Indian side helping Sri Lanka to win the series 2–1.

He emerged as a frontline batsman in international arena at a time when many Sri Lankan batsmen were nearing the end of their prime.

However, he was in and out of Sri Lankan limited overs team as he made a comeback return to the ODI side in 2005 after two years.

[13] Samaraweera was included in the Sri Lankan team to play the Test series in Pakistan in February – March 2009.

The record stood for 6 years until surpassed on 11 December 2015 by two Aussies Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh with 449 for fourth wicket against West Indies.

He was also left out of the squad to tour South Africa, but was given a late call-up to cover for Mahela Jayawardene due to a knee injury.

[27] He scored two centuries in the three-Test series, and moved into the top ten of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in his career.

[30] He also appeared in the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and he played a crucial role by adding 57 runs for the fourth wicket with Mahela Jayawardene.

[34][35][36] Samaraweera, along with five teammates, was injured in the 3 March 2009 attack on the bus that carried the Sri Lankan team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.

[39] Thilan suffered a major injury on his left thigh as a bullet fired by a terrorist pierced through his knee well inside his body by 12 inches.

[45] He was believed to have undergone 2 and half hours operation at the Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo and fears were also raised that he could be forced to retire from international cricket.

[48][49] He was employed by Cricket Australia as a consultant coach for Australian team for the test tour of Sri Lanka.