Rangana Herath, the most-successful left-arm bowler in Test history, will retire after the first Test in Galle, having told the selectors that he is reluctant to play through an entire three-Test series.
Herath is second on Sri Lanka’s list of leading wicket-takers – behind Muttiah Muralitharan, who has 800 wickets. Among currently active bowlers, he has the third best tally – behind James Anderson [564] and Stuart Broad [433] – on the bowlers’ list. With 430 Test scalps already ahead of his final game, Herath will go down in Test history as the most successful left-arm spinner.
Herath, 40, has not played a complete three-Test series since January 2017, having since left two India series early due to injury, before playing no more than one of the three Tests in West Indies in June this year.
It is fitting in some ways that Herath ends his career in Galle, the same venue where he made his debut back in 1999 against Australia. He has so far picked up 99 wickets at the venue needing just one more wicket to join Muralitharan in having taken 100 wickets at the ground. Muralitharan (Galle- 111, Asgiriya – 117 and SSC – 166) and James Anderson (Lord’s – 103) are the only two bowlers to hold the record of taking 100 wickets at a single venue.
The Galle Test begins on November 6.
