5 Legends who retired from International Cricket in 2018

#4 Rangana Herath

Making his debut in 1999, Rangana Herath was seen as a support to legendary Muralitharan in the first decade of his career. His role was mostly to bowl long spells and build pressure on the batsmen and allow Muralitharan to work his magic from the other end. However, Herath had been Sri Lanka's go-to bowler ever since Muralitharan retired.

The orthodox left-arm spinner took over from Murali as the main spinner in Tests, his strengths being his accuracy and the ability to bowl long spells. Later on his career, he added a mystery ball which is quicker and darts back into the right-hander. His ability to subtly vary his pace and flight made him a valuable asset in overseas tours too.

Herath's 9 for 128 in the 2011-12 tour to South Africa gave Sri Lanka their first Test win in South Africa. He performed exceptionally well in the Australia tour in 2012 too, the year in which he finished as the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. Herath ultimately came out of Muralitharan's shadow and finished as one of the best left-arm spinners.

Herath's 20-year career ended against England at home where he picked 3 wickets. With 433 Test wickets, Herath finished as the highest wicket-taker among left-arm spinners and the second highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in Tests. The void created by his retirement will be a huge one to fill for Sri Lanka.