Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka batsman, will retire from
international cricket after the second Twenty20 International against
Australia. Dilshan won't be available to play the final two One-Day
International matches of the ongoing series since he has opted to quit
50-overs cricket on Sunday (August 28) after the third ODI.
The
39-year-old, who has already retired from Test cricket, will then take
part in the two-match T20I series and will play his final match for Sri
Lanka on September 9 in Colombo.
Incidentally, Dilshan had made
himself unavailable for the limited-overs leg of the the England tour
this summer due to personal reasons. He even had a few discussions about
his future with Sri Lanka's current chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya
before the ODI series against Australia. Dilshan has compiled just 32
runs in the two games he has played so far in the ongoing ODI series,
and that perhaps led to his decision to hang up his boots from
international cricket.
The veteran cricketer, who started
his career as a middle-order batsman, made his international debut in a
Test match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 1999. He aggregated 5,492
runs at a noteworthy average of 40.98 in 87 Tests in the longest format
of the game. Dilshan also showed his worth as a part-time offspinner by
picking up 39 wickets. He played his final Test against Bangladesh at
the R. Premadasa Stadium in 2013.
Dilshan has also
represented Sri Lanka in 329 ODIs and 78 T20Is. In the 50-over format,
the dashing opener, has amassed 10,248 runs at an impressive average of
39.26. He compiled his highest score of 161 not out against Bangladesh
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the ICC World Cup 2015.
The
39-year-old opener played in three 50-over World Cups and was at his
aggressive best in the 2011 event when he ended the tournament as the
leading run-scorer, with 500 runs at an average of 62.5.
Dilshan
was appointed as the captain of the Sri Lankan national team across all
three formats of the game in 2011, but he didn't have a successful time.
Under his leadership, Sri Lanka lost a string of Test series to
England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa. He eventually, stepped
down from the role in January 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment