Dimuth Karunaratne to retire from Tests after 100th appearance at Galle

Colombo [Sri Lanka], February 4 (ANI): Former Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne will retire from Test cricket after his 100th appearance in the format this week against Australia at Colombo.

With Australia leading the series 1-0, the second Sri Lanka-Australia Test at Galle will take place from February 6 onwards.

With Sri Lanka set to play just two more Tests until May 2026, there is barely any international cricket or cricket in general for a long-format player like Karunaratne. At 36-years of age, Karunaratne has also struggled for runs. In 11 Tests and 21 innings since the 2024 start, he has scored just 541 runs at an average of just 27.05 and five half-centuries to his name.

Speaking ahead of the match, Karunaratne said that it is the “right time to go”.

“Plus, this match was in Galle, where I made my debut, so it will be nice to finish things there. After the first Test against Australia ended, I told Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that the next Test would be my last,” he added.

Karunaratne also said that playing 100 Tests is a “tough thing to accomplish” and listed a regret he would have.

“Especially, when you are an opening batter and you are doing the dirty work for the team. 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 would have the chance to get there. But then after COVID-19 hit, and Sri Lanka do not play as many Tests anymore,” he said.

“I would 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,” he added.

Karunaratne made his Test debut in November 2012 against New Zealand at Galle. In 99 Tests, he has scored 7,172 runs at an average of 39.40, with 16 centuries and 39 fifties. His best score is 244. He is the fourth-highest run-getter for Sri Lanka in Tests, with Angelo Matthews (8,090 runs), Mahela Jayawardene (11,814 runs) and Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs). He will now become the seventh SL player to reach 100 Tests after Sanath Jayasuriya, Muthiah Muralidaran, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews.

He also captained Sri Lanka in 30 Tests, winning 12 and losing 12, while six matches ended in a draw. He is SL’s most successful player in the ICC World Test Championship, scoring 2,592 runs in 34 Tests and 64 innings at an average of 41.14, with six centuries and 16 fifties and the best score of 244.

Dimuth played 50 ODIs as well, scoring 1,316 runs at an average of 31.33, with a century and 11 fifties. His best score is 103.