SL v AUS 2025: Dimuth Karunaratne to retire after playing his 100th Test for Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne has 7,172 runs in 99 Tests for Sri Lanka.

Dimuth Karunaratne | Getty

Dimuth Karunaratne, veteran Sri Lankan opener and ex-captain, has announced his retirement from cricket after the upcoming second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle. This test will also be his 100th for his team.

He stated that he plans to retire from all levels of cricket and move to Australia with his family next month. Karunaratne's farewell match of his long career will be for SSC against NCC in the SLC Major Club 3-Day Tournament, held at the NCC Ground from February 14 to 16.

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 few bilateral series. My current form is another reason; completing my 100 tests, the end of the WTC cycle (2023-25), I thought was the right time to retire," Karunaratne told Daily FT.

The former captain also revealed that he had a discussion with two other senior players Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal about the decision to retire and came to the conclusion that they would call time on their careers in a phased manner.

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]. 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 would retire first because I knew I could not 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,” he added.

In 99 Tests, the 36-year-old left-hander has accumulated 7,172 runs at an average of just under 40, with 16 hundreds over a 13-year span.

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 is playing fewer Test matches for a year, getting to 10,000 runs seems far away. Appearing in 100 Tests, I feel, is an achievement.

At the end of the day, after I have retired, I can look back and be satisfied that I have played 100 Tests for my country. Several players play Test cricket, but only a handful are able to go and play 100 Tests. To become a member of that exclusive club, I am very happy. To become Sri Lanka’s seventh cricketer to play in 100 Tests is also a happy moment,” he added.

Karunaratne is currently out of form, but he aims to make amends in his 100th Test and bid farewell in style.

He said, “I have not hit a bad patch for a long time. From 2016 till last year, I have been scoring consistently. I have been the leading run-scorer or second-leading run-scorer. When you hit a rough patch, it’s something that you have not experienced before. I am struggling to come out of it at the moment. Along with that, you get negative thoughts; there is stress, and panic sets in. All of them come with the loss of form. I can go on from there if I get to the first 15-30 runs. I am struggling because I have been unable to get a start. If I can get a start on the next test, I think I can convert it into a big one.”

One of the many highlights of Karunaratne's extraordinary career has been scoring a century in his 50th Test match. He scored an unbeaten 158 while carrying his bat against South Africa in Galle in 2018.

Not only in my 100th test, but I look forward to scoring a hundred in every game I play and contributing towards my team. It will be a great milestone if I can score a 100 in my 100th test,” he signed off.

(Daily FT inputs)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 04 Feb, 2025

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