India Women’s team felicitates Sri Lanka’s Shashikala Siriwardene on retirement

Shashikala Siriwardene, the veteran Sri Lanka women’s cricketer, is all set to retire from all forms of the game. Prior to the T20 World Cup in Australia, the Colombo-born put forth her decision to hang her boots. She made her debut way back in 2003 in an ODI versus the West Indies at the Kingston in Jamaica. From there on, she plied her trade in 118 ODIs and as many as 80 T20Is.

The 35-year-old has over 3,100 runs with nine half-centuries to go with 197 wickets in her 17-year-lomg career. In the ongoing World Cup, Siriwardene has pretty much lived up to her reputation as a quality all-rounder. In three games, she has scored 18 runs and picked up three wickets at an economy of 7.54. Her best figures of 2/20 came against Meg Lanning’s Australia in Perth.

Sri Lanka have lost all their three games and have been eliminated. Their last group match against Bangladesh in Melbourne is a dead rubber. It means that Siriwardene will be taking the field one last time on March 2. In the meantime, the Indian women’s cricket team decided to felicitate her.

The Women in Blue signed an Indian jersey with best wishes written for Siriwardene. Smriti Mandhana, India’s talented opener, was seen giving away the jersey to the veteran. All-rounder Shikha Pandey was also seen in the picture alongside Mandhana and Siriwardene.

India dominating the World Cup

Even as Lanka is set to bow out, India have managed to stamp their authority in the tournament thus far. The team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, became the first team to qualify for the semi-final of the World Cup after winning four matches on the trot. They started with a resounding victory over hosts Australia at the Sydney Showground Stadium where Poonam Yadav blew the opposition away.

Kaur’s women also got past Lanka and Bangladesh without much fuss. Against New Zealand though, they had to work out of their skins, winning by four runs. India are now awaiting their opponent for the semi-final on Thursday, March 5 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Last time around, India were knocked out in the semis and they will be looking for a finals berth, making amends.