SL vs AUS 2025: Dimuth Karunaratne to retire after second Test.(Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)
Sri Lanka’s seasoned batter Dimuth Karunaratne has opted to retire from Test cricket after the second and last game against Australia in the ongoing series. The swansong game for the veteran will end with the encounter that gets underway on Thursday, February 06 at the Galle International Stadium. Notably, this will also be his 100th appearance for Sri Lanka in the format.
Interestingly, this is the very venue where Karunaratne represented Sri Lanka in whites for the first time upon making his debut against New Zealand back in November 2012. The batter conveyed the decision that he is going to announce retirement from the format, following the end of the first Test. The left-handed batter backed his thoughtful decision by saying that he wants to make way for younger generation to take over.
“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. Plus, this match was in Galle, where I made my debut, so it will be nice to finish things there,” Karunaratne was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“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 batter added.
Furthermore, Karunaratne, who will be drawing curtains to his career in the red-ball format also opened up on the regrets he has had as a Sri Lanka cricketer.
“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,” he concluded.
Speaking of his career, the Colombo-born has made 7197 runs thus far at an average of 39.40, which includes 39 half-centuries and 16 hundreds as well. His highest score in the format remains 244, which came off 437 deliveries against Bangladesh in Pallekele in 2021. He also captained the Lankan Lions in the format for 30 matches in Tests, scoring 2643 runs at 49.86 including eight centuries.
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