Sri Lanka's veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has decided to step aside from limited-overs cricket, reports ESPNcricinfo. He will, however, continue to be a regular feature in his country's Test side at least for this entire year.
Herath had made the Sri Lankan Cricket board aware of his decision in the week gone by and they apparently had no real qualms with the 38-year old's call. Focus on Test cricket is the primary reason why the diminutive spinner has pulled the curtains down on his limited-overs career.
"In the next eight months or so, we're scheduled to play something like 12 Test matches. I think retiring from the shorter formats is the right move, because that will allow young players to be groomed for the next World Cup, as well as lowering my workload and letting me concentrate on Tests," said Rangana Herath on his motivation to quit ODIs and T20Is.
After the retirement of the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan, Herath has taken up the mantle of being the senior spinner in the Sri Lankan team, especially in Tests. He is one of the very few currently active cricketers to have made their international debut in the 1990s.
Rangana Herath is on the verge of achieving the 300-wicket milestone with 297 wickets in 67 Tests. In 71 ODIs that he played, the left-arm spinner picked up 74 wickets at an average of slightly under 32. His best figures of 4 for 20 came against India during a 2013 tri-series played in the West Indies also featuring the host team.
Meanwhile, in the T20I format, Herath played just 17 matches and grabbed 18 wickets, conceding his runs at an economy of just 6.13. His top performance in T20I cricket came during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 where he recorded phenomenal figures of 5 for 3 against New Zealand.
Although Rangana Herath may have retired from limited-overs cricket, he surely has a job left to do for Sri Lanka in Test cricket.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
