Rex Clementine, in the Island, 24 October 2016, where the title runs “King Herath leads Sri Lanka”
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has been bestowed with the rare honour of leading Sri Lanka in Test cricket after captain Angelo Mathews was ruled out of the tour of Zimbabwe with a calf strain yesterday. Herath, the 38-year-old 73 Test veteran is the most experienced cricketer in international cricket. He is also the only current international cricketer to have made his Test debut in the last millennium. He will become the 14th man to lead Sri Lanka in Test cricket and only the second spinner after D.S. de Silva.
Pic from Guardian
“I am absolutely delighted with this honour,” Herath told The Island. “Chairman of Selectors Sanath Jayasuriya called me up today and informed that Angelo has been ruled out of the series and that I will have to step in as captain,” Herath added. “Having said that, these are difficult circumstances having lost two of our leading players. Both Angelo and Chandi have done remarkably well for us over the years,” Herath further said.While captain Mathews hurt his calf during training on Saturday, Chandimal was not picked for the tour due to injury. “Leading your country is the ultimate honour. I am really honoured to be considered as captain. But my main duty for the team is to do my best in bowling. We have lots of confidence leading into the series after the 3-0 win over Australia. We have improved in several ways and our batsmen in particular have gained confidence,” Herath further said.
Sri Lanka have not named a replacement for the injured Mathews as Zimbabwe have scrapped on arrival visa system. SLC will name a replacement today and the player is not expected to join the squad before the first Test in Harare starting on Saturday.
The national cricket team will leave for Harare tonight. They are expected to reach Harare after two stop-overs in Dubai and Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Mathews, meanwhile, is unlikely to be fit for the triangular series as well that involves the hosts and West Indies. Chandimal is expected to lead the team in ODIs.
There have been 15 Tests so far between the countries. Ten of them have been won by Sri Lanka while the remaining five have been draws.
Rangana Herath bowls to a packed infield, Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Harare, 3rd day, October 31, 2016
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Full name Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath
Born March 19, 1978, Kurunegala
Current age 38 years 226 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Hampshire, Kandurata Maroons, Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club, Moors Sports Club, Sri Lanka A, Surrey, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, Wayamba
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 73 | 110 | 23 | 1277 | 80* | 14.67 | 2551 | 50.05 | 0 | 2 | 153 | 6 | 21 | 0 |
| ODIs | 71 | 30 | 15 | 140 | 17* | 9.33 | 217 | 64.51 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| T20Is | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2.66 | 12 | 66.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| First-class | 245 | 354 | 80 | 4466 | 80* | 16.29 | 0 | 14 | 103 | 0 | ||||
| List A | 190 | 111 | 48 | 1043 | 88* | 16.55 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 0 | ||||
| Twenty20 | 53 | 26 | 7 | 77 | 9 | 4.05 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 73 | 133 | 20633 | 9533 | 332 | 9/127 | 14/184 | 28.71 | 2.77 | 62.1 | 17 | 26 | 6 |
| ODIs | 71 | 67 | 3242 | 2362 | 74 | 4/20 | 4/20 | 31.91 | 4.37 | 43.8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 17 | 17 | 365 | 373 | 18 | 5/3 | 5/3 | 20.72 | 6.13 | 20.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| First-class | 245 | 53306 | 24092 | 961 | 9/127 | 25.06 | 2.71 | 55.4 | 61 | 11 | |||
| List A | 190 | 8256 | 5732 | 226 | 4/19 | 4/19 | 25.36 | 4.16 | 36.5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Twenty20 | 53 | 51 | 1110 | 1129 | 57 | 5/3 | 5/3 | 19.80 | 6.10 | 19.4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Test debut | Sri Lanka v Australia at Galle, Sep 22-26, 1999 scorecard |
| Last Test | Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (SSC), Aug 13-17, 2016 scorecard |
| Test statistics |
| Bat & Bowl | Team | Opposition | Ground | Match Date | Scorecard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33*, 6/81, 5, 7/64 | Sri Lanka | v Australia | Colombo (SSC) | 13 Aug 2016 | Test # 2217 |
| 14, 4/35, 26, 2/74 | Sri Lanka | v Australia | Galle | 4 Aug 2016 | Test # 2213 |
| 6, 4/49, 35, 5/54 | Sri Lanka | v Australia | Pallekele | 26 Jul 2016 | Test # 2209 |
| 4/81, 31, 0/63 | Sri Lanka | v England | Lord’s | 9 Jun 2016 | Test # 2205 |
| 1/116, 12, 61, 0/18 | Sri Lanka | v England | Chester-le-Street | 27 May 2016 | Test # 2204 |
| 2/25, 1, 4 | Sri Lanka | v England | Leeds | 19 May 2016 | Test # 2203 |
| 55, 2/39 | Sri Lankans | v Leics | Leicester | 13 May 2016 | FC |
| 2, 0/21 | Sri Lanka | v South Africa | Delhi | 28 Mar 2016 | T20I # 554 |
| 1/27, 1 | Sri Lanka | v England | Delhi | 26 Mar 2016 | T20I # 551 |
| 3, 0/27 | Sri Lanka | v West Indies | Bangalore | 20 Mar 2016 | T20I # 543 |
Rangana Herath is an orthodox left-arm spinner who has taken over from Muttiah Muralitharan as Sri Lanka’s main wicket-taking bowler in Tests. As a left-arm spinner, his strengths are his accuracy and his ability to bowl long spells, but to that he has added a ‘mystery’ ball, a delivery that is quicker and darts back into the right-hander.
