Dubai, Feb 9 (IANS): International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Jay Shah congratulated Dimuth Karunaratne for an outstanding international career and wished him all success in the years to come.
The 36-year-old, who came to be known as a Test specialist in an era of proliferating limited-overs games, retired from international cricket after the second match of their ICC World Test Championship series against Australia in Galle, the same ground on which he made his Test debut in 2012. He went on to play 100 Test matches for the island nation.
“Dimuth has had a very fine career during which he excelled as a batter in the most traditional format of the game, becoming only the seventh from his country to feature in 100 Tests," Jay Shah said in a statement.
“His commitment has been second to none and he has been a great ambassador of the game. I am sure fans of Test cricket the world over will miss him. On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate him for an outstanding career and wish him all the best for the future. I hope he continues to contribute to the game in the years to come, using his experience of playing in different countries.”
Karunaratne, a solid left-hander, made his international debut against England in an ODI at Manchester in 2011. He aggregated 7,222 runs with 16 centuries in Test cricket and 1,316 runs in 50 ODIs with one century.
All his 16 centuries came as opener, a record for most centuries by a Sri Lankan opener that he holds jointly with former captain Marvan Atapattu.