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Rangana Herath set to call it quits after first Test against England in Galle
Sri Lankan off-spinner Rangana Herath is all set to call it a day on his international career after the first Test against England in Galle, which gets underway from November 6.
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Reports from ESPN Cricinfo suggest that the 40-year old, who is the most-successful left-arm spinner in Test history made clear his reluctance in competing in a three-match Test series.
Herath is the second highest wicket-taker from Sri Lanka–the first one being Muttiah Muralidharan with 800 scalps. The tweaker also has the best wickets tally (430) among current bowlers after England fast bowlers James Anderson (564) and Stuart Broad (433).
Herath is thus set to retire at the very venue where he made his debut back in 1999–a time when he was in his prime. He needs just one more wicket to get to a 100 wickets at this venue–an achievement, second to only Muralidharan.
Unlike the current Sri Lankan batting unit which still has a void in it after the retirements of greats like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Herath carefully shouldered the spin department after Muralidharan called it quits.
As a matter of fact, he played 22 matches–out of his 92 Test caps–from 1999 to 2010 where he picked up 71 wickets averaging around 37.88. Statistics further add weight to this fact that he didn’t let the spin department struggle after Murali’s exit. Since the legend’s retirement, Sri Lanka played 81 Tests where Herath, playing 70 of them took 359 wickets.
The wily left-armer showed glimpses of his greatness when he guided Sri Lanka to their first Test match win in South Africa in 2011–a match where he had starred with 11 wickets. He ended as the top wicket-taker in Tests the following year where he had 60 scalps to his name.
Despite these staggering numbers, Herath’s fitness is what has been a concern. Unfortunately, he would end up with just 93 matches in the whites for Sri Lanka–seven short of a 100 games–a milestone which many want to achieve.
“I am not looking at that far (100 Tests) to be honest. Having said that, it will be great if I can play 100 Tests, but the thing is when you set targets your commitments become too much,” he had said in February this year.
Image credit- Fox Sports
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