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Dimuth Karunaratne to retire from international cricket after playing his 100th Test

Dimuth Karunaratne will turn up for Sri Lanka one last time in the second Test against Australia in Galle. This is also the 100th Test of his career and has taken the decision to step away from the sport after speaking to other senior players like Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal.

Dimuth Karunaratne
Dimuth Karunaratne Image Source : Getty
New DelhiPublished: , Updated:

Dimuth Karunaratne has confirmed that he will retire from international cricket after the second Test against Australia in Galle. It is also the landmark 100th Test of his career having made his Test debut in 2012. Overall, he has amassed 7172 runs at an average of 39.4 with 16 centuries and 39 fifties.

Opening up about his retirement, Karunaratne stated that it is difficult for him to stay motivated to play only four Test matches in a year. Moreover, he also noted that the second Test against Australia will be the end of the World Test Championship cycle. At the same time, his form has deserted with his last century coming 26 innings ago.

"It is difficult for a Test player to keep himself motivated to play 4 Tests for a year and maintain his form. 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.

"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," Karunaratne told Daily FT.

The 36-year-old will now be hoping to sign off on a high helping Sri Lanka win the Test and level the two-match series against Australia.

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