Cricket website espncricinfo.com says the 39-year-old Dilshan will retire from global cricket altogether after the second Twenty20 against Australia in Colombo on September 9.
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The right-handed batsman’s decision to retire from global cricket comes as a surprise, because he had vowed to continue playing for Sri Lanka for another 2-3 years in early 2015.
A hat-trick from James Faulkner and a gritty Mathew Wade half-century were to no avail as Australia crumbled to a hefty 82-run defeat against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Wednesday night.
His best score came in the 2015 International Cricket Council World Cup, when he scored 161 not out against Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka’s opening batsman T M Dilshan has made a decision to retire from one-day cricket after the 3rd ODI in Dambulla, Sri Lanka Cricket announced.
Steve Smith will leave Sri Lanka early to rest up and focus on the upcoming South Africa tour, with David Warner to take over captaincy of Australia’s ODI and T20 teams for the rest of the Sri Lanka tour.
As the cricketer retired from ODIs, skipper Angelo Mathews said his contribution are no less than those of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. He was also a part of the Sri Lankan outfit that won World T20 2014 to break the world title drought.
Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso claimed four wickets while medium-pacer Thisara Perera took three wickets to choke the Australian run chase.
The home side were on top from the start of Australia’s pursuit of 289, with fast-scoring openers David Warner (1) and Aaron Finch (4) dismissed cheaply.
Australia will also have to do without injured quick bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile for the rest of the tour.
“It looks like he’s got a game plan in place for these conditions and I’m sure that’s going to hold him in good stead not only for these fixtures but in the future as well”.
Watch Angelo Mathews offer his preview of the Second Sri Lanka vs. Australia ODI cricket match in the video below.
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Having been ranked the No.1 Test side by this year’s April 1 cut-off, the Australians enjoyed bonuses from Cricket Australia and an added $1 million from the International Cricket Council, when presented with the championship mace on the eve of the Sri Lankan series.
