Veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has decided to call it a day after the first Test against England starting November 6 at the Galle International Stadium. Interestingly, the 40-year-old made his international debut at the same venue in 1999.
Sri Lanka Cricket said Herath had a discussion with board CEO Ashley De Silva and the selectors and informed them of his decision to retire after the Galle Test.
"We respect and support Rangana's decision even though his retirement will be a big loss for Sri Lanka Cricket," De Silva said in a statement. "We wish to thank him for the invaluable contribution he has made to Sri Lanka Cricket."
Ahead of Sri Lanka's two-match Test series against South Africa at home in July, Herath had said he was contemplating retirement in November.
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Herath, who has been struggling of late with knee injuries, has taken 430 Test wickets at an average of 27.95 and a strike rate of 59.7. He has 34 five-wicket hauls and nine 10-wicket hauls in 92 Tests. He had retired from the shorter forms of the game in 2016.
His career-best match figure of 14/184 came in 2014 against Pakistan, which included 9/127 in the first innings.
He is tenth on the list of all-time leading wicket-takers in Test cricket and only the second bowler from Sri Lanka to cross 400 wickets in Tests, after Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan. In fact, Herath is just one wicket away from claiming 100 wickets in Galle—a record currently held by Muralitharan.
Having been overshadowed by Muralitharan for a greater part of his career, Herath took over the reins of the Lankan spin attack once the former retired in 2010 with a record 800 Test wickets.
