Tillakaratne Dilshan set to retire from international cricket

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan is set to retire from international cricket at the end of the ongoing series against Australia. The 39-year-old has announced that the match against Australia on Sunday will be his last ODI outing, before he features again in the two T20I games.

The Kalutara-born right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler has been under constant pressure to perform from the Sri Lankan selectors. With Angelo Matthews and the Sri Lankan board looking to build the team for the 2019 World Cup, Dilshan's place in the side has come under a lot of speculation. Dilshan's place at the top of the order was under challenge from the likes of Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, and Dhananjaya de Silva, who has so far batted down the order in ODIs.

Reports suggest that Dilshan was initially reluctant to retire, despite being persuaded to do so, but having managed to score only 22 and 10 in the first two matches against Australia, he has changed his mind.

Dilshan, who innovated the famous Dilscoop, has featured in 87 Tests, 329 ODIs, and 78 T20Is for Sri Lanka so far, and he has scored a total of 39 centuries across all formats. Apart from being a destructive opening batsman, Dilshan was also a handy spin bowler, who had picked up 106 wickets in ODIs, and an excellent fielder in the circle. Even the great Kumar Sangakkara has come out in praise of Dilshan after the news about his retirement came out.

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