Upul Tharanga bids adieu to international cricket

Upul Tharanga brings a 15-year international career to a close 

Upul Tharanga, one of the most stylish left-hand batsmen produced by Sri Lanka has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 36.

In a letter sent to Sri Lanka Cricket Tharanga has thanked Sri Lanka Cricket for the support and the guidance rendered to him during his 15-year international cricket career. He also thanked the coaches, players, administrators, management, and the support staff of the SLC.

Tharanga will be best remembered as a one-day cricketer where he really made his mark with 15 centuries making him the fifth highest century scorer for Sri Lanka after Sanath Jayasuriya (28), Kumar Sangakkara (25), Tillakaratne Dilshan (22) and Mahela Jayawardene (18).

He aggregated nearly 7000 runs (6951) at an average of 33.74 and a strike rate of 76. In a wavering career Tharanga has batted in positions from one to nine for his country. But he found success as an opener which was where he scored the majority of his runs – 4965 at an average of 33.77 with 13 hundreds.

It was in the 2006 tour of England that Tharanga really developed his game forming a destructive opening partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya. The pair really decimated the English bowling to give Sri Lanka a 5-0 clean sweep of the one-day series. He began with a century at Lord’s and ended with another in the fifth and final game at Leeds where with Jayasuriya they set up a then record opening partnership of 286 in 32 overs. Tharanga’s highest ODI score was an unbeaten 174 against India in Jamaica during a tri-series in 2013. He also captained his country in 22 ODIs. Between 2007 and 2015 Tharanga appeared in 21 World Cup matches scoring 697 runs with two centuries.

The tragedy with Tharanga was that he was unable to retain a permanent position in the team because of his inconsistency – he frustrated and thrilled in equal measure.

Tharanga also appeared in 31 Tests and 26 T20Is for Sri Lanka. His last competitive tournament was in the Lanka Premier League where he represented Dambulla Viiking.

Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva said: “Upul Tharanga has done a tremendous service as a player to Sri Lanka Cricket during his long career and has been an integral part of the National Team during its many achievements.” (ST)