Dilshan to retire from ODIs and T20Is

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Tillakaratne Dilshan has confirmed he will play his final ODI in Dambulla on Sunday, the third of the series against Australia, and his last T20 international in Colombo on September 9.

His retirement comes in the wake of significant pressure from Sri Lanka’s selectors. Dilshan’s own performance has been outstanding over the past few years – he averages 49.18 in ODIs since the start of 2013, and had his most successful ODI year in 2015, when he scored 1207 runs at an average of 52.47. But with Angelo Mathews and the selectors now seeking to build a team for the 2019 World Cup, Dilshan was persuaded to retire. He had also been Sri Lanka’s top scorer in this year’s World T20 campaign, and remains, at 39, one of the team’s best fielders.

Dilshan had missed the England tour earlier this year due to personal reasons, and was seen in discussion with chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya ahead of the ongoing ODI series against Australia. He is understood to have expressed a reluctance to retire, but having scored 22 and 10 in the first two matches, he has since changed his mind. Sri Lanka already have opening batsmen vying for his …

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