(Reuters) – Former Sri Lanka test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne will retire from the format after his 100th match, the final test of Sri Lanka’s two-test series against Australia in Galle on Thursday.
Karunaratne made his Test debut at the Galle international Stadium in 2012 against New Zealand. The 36-year-old opener has scored 7,172 runs with 16 centuries and 39 half centuries in 99 appearances. He has played 50 ODIs but has never featured in a Twenty20 International match.
“It was the right time to go, considering there are three or four younger players who could come in for the next World Test Championship cycle,” Karunaratne told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday.
“After the first Test against Australia ended, I told Sri Lanka Cricket (Board) that the next Test would be my last.
“Playing 100 Tests is a tough thing to accomplish, especially when you’re an opening batter and you’re doing the dirty work for the team.”
Karunaratne will become Sri Lanka’s seventh cricketer to reach 100 Tests, following Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, and Angelo Mathews.
His recent form has dipped, with 182 runs in his last seven test matches, including a lone half-century against New Zealand in September last year.
“If I have regrets, one of them would be not being able to get to 10,000 Test runs. I thought the way that I was going in 2017, 2018 and 2019, that I’d have the chance to get there. But then COVID hit, and Sri Lanka don’t play as many Tests anymore,” Karunaratne added.
Karunaratne said he plans to pursue coaching after his retirement: “I’ll take a bit of a break for myself after spending so many years playing cricket. But eventually, I’d like to get involved again.”
Australia lead after beating Sri Lanka by an innings and 242 runs on day four of the opening test in Galle on Saturday.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
