Shantha Kalavitigoda was a surprise call-up for Sri Lanka's postponed tour to New Zealand in 2004-05. But Kalavitigoda, a right-handed opener, has been quietly knocking on the door in recent years. While younger batsmen have been given repeated opportunities to flatter and fail, Kalavitigoda has been consistently accumulating first-class runs, scoring eight hundreds in the two seasons. In 2003-04 he was adjudged the best batsman in the Premier League, and in 2004-05 he scored nearly 800 runs for Colombo Colts and North West Province. That was enough to win him selection to the A team against England A in March 2005. He grabbed his opportunity with a fighting 83 off 177 balls at NCC in the second Test, an innings that persuaded the selectors to give him a chance in the senior team. When that opportunity did arrive in the second Test in Wellington he was shunted down to an unfamiliar No. 7 position and failed in both innings.

Kalavitigoda's first taste of international cricket was with the Sri Lankan under-17 team at the 1994 World Cup in Malaysia. He was a prolific scorer for his school, Nalanda College, and once shared a 380-run partnership with Mahela Jayawardene in an under-23 match for SSC, his first club.