Veteran's retirement wish is more Tests for Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne's wish on retiring is for Sri Lanka to play more Test matches so others can reach the 100-game milestone he'll bring up against Australia.

Karunaratne said it would be "really tough" to bow out of Test cricket after the second and final match of the Australia series that begins in Galle on Thursday.

The 36-year-old opener became emotional reflecting on the positive moments of his career in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm going to miss them. It's really tough," Karunaratne said.

But he said his recent form had been decisive.

Karunaratne has not scored a Test century since April 2023 and has averaged 27.05 since the beginning of last year.

He made scores of 7 and 0 in the first Test against Australia last week, when the tourists trounced their hosts by an innings and 242 runs.

"It's hard to take, but one day you have to go from this game. I think this is the right time," Karunaratne said.

"There were a few reasons, especially my current form.

"The WTC (World Test Championship) cycle is finishing after this Australia match. My debut was in Galle, so I want to finish up in Galle as well.

"There are some youngsters who are playing really well in domestic cricket. It's time to give them a chance."

The left-hander is set to finish his career as only the seventh Sri Lankan to reach 100 Tests.

Veteran batter Angelo Mathews (117) is the only other active player to have made the milestone, with Dinesh Chandimal (87) and Kusal Mendis (70) the next closest.

Karunaratne was hopeful Sri Lanka would play more Test matches in future to help his teammates reach triple figures.

Sri Lanka is only scheduled to play 12 matches in the next two-year World Test Championship cycle, compared to Australia's 22.

"Bilateral series are very rare. It's really hard to get to 100 matches for the players who are close," Karunaratne said.

"I hope they will get more matches after 2027."

No Sri Lankan has played more innings as a Test opener than Karunaratne, whose 7172 runs make him the fourth-most prolific Sri Lankan batter of all time after Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakarra and Mathews.

Highlights of his time in the team include captaining Sri Lanka to a series win in South Africa in 2019 among his 30 games as skipper, and a highest score of 244 against Bangladesh in 2021.

Karunaratne will relocate his family to Melbourne to train as a cricket coach and will continue to play local cricket there from next summer.

"Hopefully I can come back again to serve Sri Lankan cricket," he said.

Karunaratne would not rule out answering an SOS call to play first-class cricket again for his team Sinhalese Sports Club.

In more team news, Pathum Nissanka will return from his groin injury to partner Karunaratne at the top of the order against Australia, with Sri Lanka to decide on further changes closer to the toss.

"For now it's one change, Pathum Nissanka will come in," said captain Dhananjaya de Silva.

"I'm discussing with the coaches who's going to play as the three spinners.

"We have to get the right combination and hopefully we'll get the team out in the evening."