The Sri Lankan left-handed batter, Lahiru Thirimanne announced his retirement from his 13 years of international cricket on July 23. The player had sent a resignation letter and Sri Lanka Cricket Board announced the news at the press conference on August 18.
Sri Lanka accepts Lahiru’s retirement
The Sri Lankan batter Lahiru Thirimanne’s retirement from international cricket has been accepted the country’s cricket board said in a statement on Friday. Having made his international debut in January 2010, the 34-year-old Thirimanne called time on his international career in July during an announcement on social media.
Thirimanne’s career had several highlights, including his campaign in three T20 World Cups and two ODI World Cups. One of his most memorable performances was against Bangladesh in 2021 where he had an impressive score of 140 runs leading Sri Lanka to victory.
He had a total appearance of 44 Test matches, 127 ODIs, and 26 T20Is, picking over 5500 international runs across all formats for Sri Lanka.
On July 23, the 33-year-old Thirimanne announced his retirement news on social media, bringing an end to his career in international cricket
The left-handed batter scored three Test centuries and four ODI hundreds during his ODI career and was part of Sri Lanka’s T20I squad where India was defeated in the finals by Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2014.
Thirimanne’s last match for Sri Lanka was the second Test against India at Bengaluru last year March.
Out of 44 tests, his average was 26.43 with three centuries out of which two were against Bangladesh and one against England, and 10 half-centuries making 2,088 runs. Thirimanne played 127 ODIs and scored 3,194 runs with four centuries and 21 half-centuries at 34.71.
However, Thirimanne’s career failed in T20Is as he only scored 291 runs in 26 outings with an average of 16.16.
“Sri Lanka Cricket’s Executive Committee accepted the resignation of Lahiru Thirimanne from playing all forms of international cricket,” Sri Lanka Cricket said.
“We take this opportunity to wish Thirimanne the best in his future endeavors, and his services to Sri Lanka Cricket covering all forms of the game will be well remembered,” said Ashley De Silva, CEO, of Sri Lanka Cricket.
“It has been an absolute honor to represent my country for the past few years. This game has given me so much over the years. But, with a lot of mixed feelings, I am here to announce my retirement from international cricket with an immediate effect,” the batter said while announcing his retirement.
Thirimanne said he was taking the call ‘unwillingly’. “It was a difficult decision to make, but I cannot mention here the many unexpected reasons that influenced me to take this decision willingly or unwillingly,” Ashley De Silva added.
