Follow UsSri Lanka’s premier batter and former skipper Dimuth Karunaratne has announced that he’ll retire from all forms of cricket after the second Test of the Warne-Murali Trophy in Galle, Sri Lanka. It will be the 100th Test of his career as well.
Karunaratne, who has scored 7,172 runs in 99 Tests for Sri Lanka at an average of 39.40, has been amongst the best Test openers in the world in the last decade or so and will play the last first-class of his career for the SSC club in the Sri Lanka Cricket Club 3-day tournament from February 14-16.
As per his interview with the Daily FT, where he announced that he’d step down from the game, Karunaratne’s decision comes after realising he’ll be unable to reach his primary goal of 10,000 Test runs due to the lack of Test matches for Sri Lanka.
“It is difficult for a Test player to keep himself motivated to play 4 Tests for a year and maintain his form,” Karunaratne said.
“In the last 2-3 years after the WTC [World Test Championship] was introduced, we have been having very little bilateral series. My current form is another reason; completing my 100 Tests, the end of the WTC cycle [2023-25], I thought is the right time to retire.”
Karunaratne, who’ll be moving to Australia with his family after his retirement, said he consulted the seniors before taking a call about his retirement to ensure the team wasn’t affected.
“I have some personal plans of my own. I’ve decided to retire after speaking to other senior players like Angie [Angelo Mathews] and Chandi [Dinesh Chandimal],” the 36-year-old said.
“Rather than the three of us retiring at the same time, it will be better for us to go one by one. I thought I will retire first because I know I cannot go for my next target – 10,000 runs – with the lesser number of Tests being played. I am happy with what I have achieved so far. I want to announce my retirement with a happy moment like playing in my 100th Test.
"Any cricketer’s dream is to play 100 Tests and score 10,000 runs. It’s a big achievement. When you start playing cricket, you don’t think of those targets, but when you continue playing, you come across different targets. One of them is to play 100 Tests and the other is to achieve 10,000 runs. But as Sri Lanka are playing less Test matches for a year, getting to 10,000 runs seems far away. Appearing in 100 Tests I feel is an achievement.”
The second Test in Galle begins on February 6 (Thursday).