Rangana Herath: “Maybe my final series will be the England series later in the year”

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Veteran Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath has admitted that he is considering ending his illustrious international career after the three-Test series against England in November.

Herath retired from ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals in April 2016 in order to prolong his Test career.

However, given that he is 40, he conceded that it may be time for him to bid his international career adieu.

“Maybe my final series will be the England series later in the year,” he told BBC Sinhala as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “Following this South Africa series, there is another three months until the England series. For now, this is what I’ve planned for. There comes a time for every cricketer, when they have to stop playing. I think that time has come for me.”

Should Herath go through with his plan of retiring after the series against England, he will leave the sport as the most successful left-arm bowler in Test history as he has currently taken 418 wickets in the longest format.

“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.”