Sri Lankan star opener Dimuth Karunaratne, whose recent form had been struggling, has decided to retire from international cricket. The 36-year-old will bid farewell to the national team jersey after the second Test of the ongoing series against Australia at home.
Karunaratne made his international debut for Sri Lanka in July 2011, playing against host England in a One-Day International in Manchester. In 2012, he made his Test debut for Sri Lanka, playing in Galle against New Zealand. After a 14-year-long international career, Karunaratne, former captain and one of Sri Lanka’s most successful Test openers, will retire following his final Test in Galle.
Since 2015, Karunaratne has consistently opened the batting in Tests, and over the past decade, no other opener has scored more runs than him in this format.
In the last ten years, he has jointly scored the most centuries among Test openers, with 15. Additionally, Karunaratne holds the record for the most half-centuries (34) by a Test opener during this period.
Liberty News’ sports corrspondent reports that Sri Lanka will take on Australia in the second Test of the series starting from February 6. This Test match will be Karunaratne’s 100th Test match. So far, in 99 Tests and 189 innings, Karunaratne has scored 7,172 runs at an average of 39.40. He has made 16 centuries and 39 half-centuries in Tests, with his highest individual score being 244 runs, which he made against Bangladesh.
LND/SAKIB
