Sri Lanka Cricket has called a press conference where Dimuth Karunaratne is expected to formally announce he will retire from Test cricket after the series against Australia.
Sri Lankan media reported Karunaratne would play his 100th and final Test against Australia from Thursday, with the former captain to address the media in Galle at 12pm local time (5.30pm AEDT) on Wednesday.
The left-handed opening batter is set to finish his Test career having played the seventh-most matches of any Sri Lankan.
International superstars Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakarra and Muttiah Muralidaran are among the only others in front of him.
No Sri Lankan has played more innings as a Test opener than Karunaratne, whose 7172 runs make him the fourth-most prolific Sri Lankan batter of all time after Jayawardene, Sangakarra and current teammate Angelo Mathews.
But the 36-year-old has gone since April 2023 without a Test century and has averaged only 27.05 since the beginning of last year.
He made scores of 7 and 0 in the first Test against Australia last week, when the tourists trounced their hosts by an innings and 242 runs.
Sri Lanka, starved for opportunities in the longest form, will only play two more Test matches between now and May 2026 – a statistic likely to have factored into the red-ball specialist’s thinking.
Replacement top-order options include Oshada Fernando, who filled in for injured Pathum Nissanka in the first Test against Australia, and uncapped Lahiru Udara.
Karunaratne’s Test career is set to finish where it began more than 12 years ago with a debut against New Zealand in Galle.
Highlights of his time in the team include captaining Sri Lanka to a series win in South Africa in 2019 among his 30 games as skipper, and a highest score of 244 against Bangladesh in 2021.
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