Dilshan to call time on career after home series v Australia

DILSHAN MADE HIS ONE-DAY DEBUT AGAINST ZIMBABWE IN 1999 AND WENT ON TO PLAY 329 ODIS, AMASSING 10248 RUNS

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan will quit international cricket after the ongoing limited overs series against Australia, the swashbuckling opener announced on Thursday.

“I have decided to retire from the ODIs after the third match in Dambulla (on Sunday) and will play the two Twenty20s and then retire completely,” Dilshan told local media.

After the conclusion of the five-match ODI series, Sri Lanka and Australia will play two Twenty20 matches on September 6 and 9.

Inventor of the famous “Dilscoop” ramp shot, Dilshan played the last of his 87 Tests in 2013 before quitting the longer format with 5492 runs and 39 wickets. A wily off-spinner and one of the most agile Sri Lankan fielders even at the age of 39, Dilshan scored 22 and 10 in the first two one-dayers of the ongoing five-match series against world champions Australia.

“I together with my committee wish to extend our sincere appreciation and wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala said in a statement.

According to media reports, the former captain was persuaded to retire as Sri Lanka build a new team under Angelo Mathews with an eye on the 2019 World Cup.

Dilshan made his one-day debut against Zimbabwe in 1999 and went on to play 329 ODIs, amassing 10248 runs that included 22 hundreds, with an 86-plus strike rate. He has also scored 1884 runs in 78 Twenty20 Internationals and was Sri Lanka’s top scorer in this year’s World Twenty20 in India.

SMITH TO RETURN HOME

Australia captain Steve Smith is to leave the tour of Sri Lanka and return home to rest ahead of their limited-overs series in South Africa before they host the Proteas at the start of a heavy home schedule. Vice-captain David Warner will lead the side for the remaining three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka.

“It’s obviously going to be a big summer,” Smith told reporters after his side lost the second one-day international.