Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath said that the England series in the month of October could be his last. The legendary left-arm bowler has been one of the finest spinners and did justice by filling the role of their spin wizard Muralitharan. Rangana Herath picked 415 wickets in the longest format of the game and holds the record of picking 100+ scalps against Pakistan.
Herath has his say
Speaking to BBC Sinhala, Herath said “Maybe my final series will be the England series later in the year, Following this South Africa series, there are another three months until the England series. For now, this is what I”ve planned for.”
It is to be noted that South African team is already in Sri Lanka for an all-format tour with the test series starting on July 12. Herath has been one of the most ruthless bowlers at home as he singles-handedly won the series for Lanka over the years. Particularly, his spells against the kangaroos in 2016 played a vital role in clinching the series 3-0.
Needless to say that Rangana Herath thrifty spells were a reason behind their maiden WT20 triumph in 2014. The 40- year old had called his day to the limited overs in 2016 to continue his test journey. Since then he added 124 wickets and also led the team in few matches.
Rangana Herath further added “There comes a time for every cricketer when they have to stop playing. I think that time has come for me. I”m really glad I”ve been able to play as long as I have,” Herath said. “But the most important thing is that of those 18 years, I wasn”t able to play for Sri Lanka for about seven of those years. I”m proud of what I was able to do in those seven years – the training I did, and the desire I had, especially.”
England will tour Sri Lanka in October – November season and the three-match test series will commence on 6th November. It will be really interesting how Rangana Herath can spin a web around the English batting order.
More responsibility on Perera and Dhananjaya
All eyes will be on Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya who are expected to fill his shoes post-retirement.
Dananjaya proved his mettle with the ball during the limited overs against India last year. The board will try to include him to add stability to the Lakmal led pace attack.
