Agencies
Sri Lanka batsman UpulTharanga announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday. He last played for Sri Lanka in an ODI on their 2019 tour of South Africa, in Cape Town.
"As the good old saying goes "All good things must come to an end", I believe it is time for me to bid farewell to my International Cricket Career after over 15 years of giving the game my all," Tharanga wrote in his retirement statement on Twitter.
Tharanga played 31 Tests for Sri Lanka, scoring 1754 runs at an average of 21.89, including three centuries and eight fifties. He made his Test debut in Ahmedabad against India in December 2005 and played his last, too, against the same opposition in Pallekele in 2017.
A left-handed bat and an occasional wicketkeeper, Tharanga was most successful in the ODI format for his country, making 6951 runs for Sri Lanka at an average of 33.74 in the 235 games he played since his debut against West Indies in August 2005.
This included 15 centuries and 37 half-centuries, with a career-best score of 174* - the second highest by a Sri Lankan in the format to date.
Tharanga retires as the fifth-best century maker for Sri Lankna, after SanathJayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, TillakaratneDilshan and MahelaJayawardene.
