Tillakaratne Dilshan to retire from international cricket after Australia series

Sri Lankan batting great Tillakaratne Dilshan has announced his intention to retire from international cricket on playing the 3rd One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals in the ongoing series against Australia. He affirmed that the ODI at Dambulla on Sunday will be his last appearance in 50 overs cricket.

It is believed that Dilshan who has featured in 329 ODIs, 87 Tests and 78 T20Is for Sri Lanka was under considerable pressure from the Sri Lankan selectors and thus was forced to take the call. One of the best opening batsmen to have emerged from the island nation he has scored 5492 runs in Test cricket, 10248 runs in ODIs and 1884 runs in the shortest format at the international level.

Earlier after series of speculations when the Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews was asked about Dilshan’s possible replacement in the lineup he had said, “It’s very simple. Danushka Gunathilaka opened for us in England along with Kusal Perera, and he will be a straight swap for Dilshan”

He hasn’t been in best of forms in 2016 and in the ongoing ODI series as well where he has just managed scores of 22 and 10 which is sub his own standards. But one definitely needs to consider his numbers since 2013. Taking into account the stats from January 2013, Dilshan averages 49.18 in ODIs. He was at his very best last year and ended the year with 1207 runs in ODI cricket.

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Reports also suggest that the Sri Lankan management has opted for a futuristic approach and are trying to build the team that will give them the best shot at the World Cup in 2019. With the championship 3 years away the 39-year old would definitely have more problems to solve himself than solutions to lend to the team.

Dilshan’s retirement will also mark the end of an era in Sri Lankan cricket since he was the last of the players who featured in one of the best teams from the nation after the retirement of the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in recent years.