Dimuth Karunaratne

A pragmatic, no-frills batter, Dimuth Karunaratne, over his career, developed into one of Test cricket's most reliable openers.

He marked his debut in the format with an unbeaten half-century against New Zealand in Galle in November 2012. He was dropped from the team briefly in 2014, but struck his first Test hundred towards the end of that year. He got 15 more across a 12-year career, enjoying a consistent place in the Test team and becoming one of its senior-most players.

In 2015, on a slow Galle pitch, Karunaratne was judicious and disciplined while batting for eight hours to make 186 in an innings win over West Indies. Even then, in his first 30 Tests, his averaged a little over 30. After that, it rose steadily, and by the time he played 50 more, it was hovering close to 40. The year 2017 was his most prolific and the only year he crossed 1000 runs in a calendar year - making 1031 runs at an average of nearly 40, including 196 in a series clincher against Pakistan in Dubai, and a second-innings 141 on an SSC dustbowl against the top-ranked R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. After that, he made over 500 runs in every year in which he played more than three Tests.

He captained Sri Lanka in 30 Tests, with his first series as leader being the most memorable. Replacing Dinesh Chandimal as captain in early 2019, Karunaratne led Sri Lanka to one of their great series wins - becoming the first Asian side to beat South Africa away, in a 2-0 win that included a one-wicket thriller in Durban. More than results, he brought stability to the side and leadership suited his game as well - his average of 49.8 as Test captain was significantly higher than his career average of 39.2. He also captained Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup later that year, and played 50 ODIs in all, but never appeared in a T20I.

When he finished his career, after becoming only the seventh Sri Lankan player to 100 Tests, Karunaratne was, by a wide margin, the side's leading opener, with 7129 at an average of 39.82 in that position.

An alumnus of the St Joseph's College side that produced Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, Karunatne made his first-class debut in 2008 and had a prolific 2009-10 season, scoring 1186 runs at 56.4. It got him a call-up to the Sri Lanka A side and he impressed with 184 against an attack that included Vernon Philander. Two years later, in 2012, he made 83 and an unbeaten 150 for the A side in Durban. Shortly after that he received his Test call-up to replace the injured Tillakaratne Dilshan against New Zealand in Galle.