Former SL captain Dimuth Karunaratne retires, ICC praises his commitment

The International Cricket Council on Sunday lavished praise on former Sri Lankan captain and prolific opener Dimuth Karunaratne, who brought the curtains down on his glittering international career along with his 100th Test against Australia in Galle.

Karunaratne scored 36 and 14 in his farewell Test as Australia won the match by nine wickets to make a clean sweep of the two-game series.

"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," said ICC chairman Jay Shah in a release.

Karunaratne, 36, scored 7222 runs in Tests at a healthy average of nearly 40, including a top score of 244. He also played 50 ODIs, scoring 1,316 runs. 

He captained Sri Lanka in 30 Tests between 2019 and 2023, winning 12 and losing 12 while in charge.

"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," added Shah about Karunaratne, who called time on his career at the ground on which he had made his Test debut in 2012.

"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."  The left-hander made his international debut against England in an ODI at Manchester in 2011.

All his 16 Test tons came as an opener, a record for most centuries by a Sri Lankan in that position that he holds jointly with former captain Marvan Atapattu.

But his most cherished feat came when he led Sri Lanka to a 2-0 Test series win over South Africa in 2019, and the Island nation became the first Asian side to win an away Test rubber against Proteas since their readmission to cricket.

Kusal Mendis is the only survivor from that series to have played against the Aussies in Galle, apart from Karunaratne.