Former Sri Lanka captain to retire from international cricket after SL vs AUS 2025 2nd Test

Former Sri Lanka captain and opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne is all set to play his last international match in the form of the upcoming second Test against Australia, which will also be his 100th appearance in the format. The left-handed batter, a rock at the top of the order for the island nation over the years, has been struggling for form of late.

According to a report by NewsWire, the veteran player has informed the cricketing board of his decision.

Karunaratne had scored only seven runs in the first Test against Australia in Galle, including a duck in the second innings. He had left a ball from Nathan Lyon, only for it to hit the top of the off stump.

The batter's poor run of form has been going on for a while, with his last hundred coming in April 2023 against Ireland. Prior to the Australia series, he did not fare well in the whitewash against South Africa away from home, scoring only 27 runs in four innings.

He had stepped down as captain after the series loss to Pakistan in the early stages of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

Karunaratne has scored 7,172 runs in 189 innings at an average of 39.40 in Test cricket

The gritty batter had made his Test debut in 2012, and slowly became a mainstay for Sri Lanka at the top of the order. He was dismissed for a duck in his maiden appearance, but slowly made an impression.

While he has played white-ball cricket for Sri Lanka in his career, he is mostly known for being a red-ball specialist. He was named in ICC's Test Team of the Year thrice, and is the highest run-scorer as an opener for Sri Lanka, eclipsing Sanath Jayasuriya's tally in 2023.

The former skipper has 16 Test centuries to his name, with a high score of 244, which he amassed against Bangladesh in 2021.

The second Test between Australia and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin from February 6 onwards. The Men in Yellow have a 1-0 lead in the series following their mammoth win in the first Test.