Dimuth Karunaratne has announced his retirement from Test cricket. The 36-year-old top-order batter will play his last international game against Australia in Galle which starts on the 5th of February.
The second Test against Australia of the ongoing series will also be Karunaratne’s 100th game in the format. His form has been on the decline over the last year or so. After consistent returns across 2021, 2022 and 2023, the left-handed opener struggled to get runs consistently in 2024. In fact, it’s been worse since the start of the England tour last August.
Karunaratne has made just 273 runs at an average of 18.20 with just two fifties in his last 15 Test innings (across eight Tests). His last six scores read 2, 4, 20, 1, 7 and 0 (latest).
Thus, the former Sri Lanka skipper has decided to hang up his boots. He believes it is the right time as this is Sri Lanka’s last game in the current World Test Championship cycle. Moreover, Sri Lanka are scheduled to play just two more Test matches until May 2026.
“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. After the first Test against Australia ended, I told SLC that the next Test would be my last,” Karunaratne was quoted saying to ESPNcricinfo.
It was back in November 2012 at Galle that Karunaratne made his Test debut. He got a three-ball duck in his maiden outing with the bat before he struck 60 not out to guide Sri Lanka home in a run-chase 93. He has been one of the regular members of the Test side since then.
The left-hander has played a total of 99 Test matches so far and has amassed 7172 runs at an average of 39.40. He has 16 hundreds and 39 fifties to his name. He has also played 50 ODIs, scoring 1316 runs at an average of 31.33.
Karunaratne even led the Test team between 2019 and 2023. He led Sri Lanka in 30 Tests, winning 12, losing 12 and drawing six. As captain, he struck eight Test hundreds which is the second-most for Sri Lanka behind Mahela Jayawardene’s 14. He averaged 49.86 while scoring 2643 runs as captain.
Not being able to get to 10,000 Test runs is one of my regrets: Karunaratne
Karunaratne has been a prolific batter for Sri Lanka for more than 12 years. He has been a glue at the top and has consistently weathered the storm in tough conditions. He is proud of the fact that he is reaching a milestone of 100 Test matches but not getting to 10,000 runs would be one of his regrets.
“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. 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’d have the chance to get there. But then Covid hit, and Sri Lanka don’t play as many Tests anymore,” Karunaratne added.
Karunaratne will become the 7th Sri Lankan cricketer to scale the landmark of 100 Test matches. Sanath Jayasuriya, Muthiah Muralidaran, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews are the others who have played in excess of 100 Tests.
Sri Lanka are 0-1 behind in the two-match series against Australia. They will want to give Karunaratne a perfect sendoff with a win.
