
“It was the right time to go, considering there are three or four younger players who could come in for the next WTC cycle. Plus, this match was in Galle, where I made my debut, so it will be nice to finish things there,” Karunaratne said.
Former Sri Lanka captain confirms retirement from international cricket after second Galle Test ????
More ⬇️#SLvAUS #WTC25https://t.co/k8ieSVEHnT
— ICC (@ICC) February 4, 2025
The 36-year-old steps away from the game after a prolific career, though runs dried up of late with only 182 runs coming in his last seven Test matches, with a solitary half-century coming in September 2024 against New Zealand.
This match will also mark his 100th Test appearance, a significant milestone in any Test cricketer’s career, following in the footsteps of Sanath Jayasuriya, Muthiah Muralidaran, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews.
“Playing 100 Tests is a tough thing to accomplish, especially when you’re an opening batter and you’re doing the dirty work for the team,” said Karunaratne. The left-hand batter also opened up on one of his biggest regrets in his career – never appearing in a World Test Championship Final.
“I’d also have loved to make it to a World Test Championship final and experience that feeling of being in a final. We were close twice, but it never happened.”
Karunaratne’s highest Test score of 244 came against Bangladesh in 2021. He also holds the rare distinction of registering both a duck and a century in the same Test match.
As Sri Lanka’s Test captain from 2019 to 2024, Karunaratne led the team in 30 matches. His stellar performances earned him a nomination for the ICC Test Player of the Year Award in 2021.
That year, he was also named in the ICC World Test XI after finishing as the third-highest run-scorer in the format, amassing 902 runs at an impressive average of 69.38, including four centuries.