Kulasekara calls time on career

COLOMBO: Former Sri Lanka paceman Nuwan Kulasekara has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

The 37-year-old, who reached No.1 in the ODI bowling rankings during his international career, is quitting as Sri Lanka’s fifth-highest ODI wicket-taker with 199 scalps in 184 games.

The news comes just a few days after it was announced that fellow quick Lasith Malinga is also set to retire after the first ODI against Bangladesh on Friday.

Kulasekara, who was a member of the World T20 winning squad in 2014, was most proficient in the ODI arena and returned his best figures of 5-22 against Australia at Brisbane in January 2013.

However, his last ODI appearance came in 2017 after having had made his debut in this format at the age of 21 in 2003 against England.

The swing bowler was also a capable lower-order batsman, as shown by his fluent knock of 73 against Australia in the tri-series final at Brisbane in 2012.

Kulasekara also appeared in the longest format, with a debut coming in Napier in 2005 in a Test career that saw him take 48 scalps, his best figures of 4-21 coming against Pakistan at Colombo in 2009.

In T20Is, Kulasekara is the joint second-highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka with 66 wickets in 58 games, which is only bettered by Malinga.