Tillakaratne Dilshan announces his retirement
Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan is set to end his glittering career after the third One-Day International against Sri Lanka scheduled to be played later this week in Dambulla. A constant pressure from the Sri Lankan Cricket may be a reason for such a decision from the veteran.
He is the fourth highest run scorer from the Island nation ever in ODIs and also has his name written in the elite class of players who have scored more than 10,000 runs in the 50-over format. It is also learnt as per the reports of ESPN Cricinfo that the right-hander will play his last T20 International in the 2nd match against Australia on September 9.
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The Sri Lankan opener is a pure entertainer, his sublime strokes along with the infamous ‘Dilscoop’ makes him one of the most influential limited overs cricketers in the history of the game. He has been outstanding with the bat, especially in the last couple of years. The year 2015 was his most successful year having scored 1207 runs at an average of 52.47. Though he had earlier retired from Test Cricket back in 2013, he decided to carry on in the shorter versions.
The Sri Lankan Cricket board is trying to build up a team for the 2019 Cricket World Cup headed by skipper Angelo Matthews. At 39, Dilshan is unlikely to feature in the showpiece event three years from now. Keeping these targets in mind, the decision should not be taken in a negative way, instead, Sri Lanka would be eager to give its youngsters as much International exposure as possible for the next couple of years.
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