SriLankan spin bowling legend Rangana Herath has announced retirement as the 8th highest wicket taker in Test matches. Herath finished his career against England in the first test match at Galle with a total of 433 wickets.
Herath made his debut in 1999 against Australia but couldn’t make a mark amidst the thunderous success of the spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan. The 40 year old Herath only became a regular in the SriLankan side after 2010 once Muralitharan retired.
In his 93 Test Matches, Hearth finished with 433 Test wickets with an average of 28.67 and a strike rate of 60. He took a total of 9 ten wicket hauls and 34 five wickets in an innings. Only Muralitharan and Warne have more 10 wicket hauls in Test cricket history.
Hearth is the number 8th highest wicket taker jointly with Stuart Broad. Only Muralitharan, Warne, Kumble, Anderson, McGrath, Walsh and Kapil Dev have taken more wickets. That is the elite company Herath is an exclusive member of.
The left arm spinner also joined Muralitharan and James Anderson to pick 100 wickets on a single venue. He picked 100 wickets at Galle.
Herath had a phenomenal record at home. He has picked 278 wickets in 49 Tests at an average of 23.65 in SriLanka.
His contribution overseas is also immense. His Man of the Match performance (4-49 and 5-79) in Durban in 2011 helped Sri Lanka to a historic first Test win in South Africa.
He played a crucial role with the ball in Sri Lanka’s maiden series win in England in 2014. Also he had the highest tally of wickets and the best average in the 2-0 sweep against Pakistan in UAE in 2017. He has received a total of 11 Man of the Match awards.
Hearth’s calm demeanor and resilience have only garnerned him more admirers over the world. Post his retirement a huge void will be felt in the SriLankan side which they would find difficult to fill.
We doff our hats to bid farewell to the legend Rangana Herath and wish him the very best for his future endeavours.