Sri Lanka star batter announces retirement mid-series

Former Sri Lanka captain and opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne has announced his international retirement amid their Test series against Australia.

The left-handed batter has announced hanging his boots following the second Test in Galle, which will also be his 100th Test.

“After the first Test against Australia ended, I told SLC [Sri Lanka Cricket] that the next Test would be my last. It was the right time to go, considering there are three or four younger players who could come in for the next WTC cycle,” he said in an interview with a cricket website.

Dimuth Karunaratne maintained that the final game in Galle is special for him given that he made his debut at the venue.

With his final Test, he will join Sri Lanka greats such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Muthiah Muralidaran, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews to have played 100 Tests.

“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,” the former Sri Lanka captain said.

The left-handed batter expressed regrets over the missed chances to appear in a World Test Championship Final.

“I’d also have loved to make it to a World Test Championship final and experience that feeling of being in a final. We were close twice, but it never happened,” Dimuth Karunaratne said.

Following his debut in Galle in 2012, the left-handed batter went on to become a prolific opening batter for his side, amassing 7,172 runs across 99 Test matches, including 16 centuries.

The former Sri Lanka captain is among the batter who have scored a duck and a hundred in the same Test match.

Dimuth Karunaratne captain Sri Lanka in 30 tests from 2019 until 2024 and was nominated for the ICC Test Player of the Year Award in 2021.