‘Paise ka charsi’ – Fans react as 26-year-old Wanindu Hasaranga announces his retirement from Test cricket
The 26-year-old claimed 4 wickets in Test cricket, all on his debut
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Aug 15, 2023 2:05 pm
Wanindu Hasaranga (Source: Twitter)
Wanindu Hasaranga has been a busy player in his career so far. In his very first year in international cricket, Hasaranga impressed everyone with his spin bowling. In 7 ODIs in 2017, at the tender age of 19, the youngster claimed 9 wickets at a bowling average of 25.22, at a bowling strike rate of 22.11. On his debut, the young spinner claimed 3/15 in ODIs against Zimbabwe.
In 8 T20Is in 2019, Hasaranga claimed 12 wickets at a bowling average of 17.00, a bowling strike rate of 12.83, and an economy of 7.95. In the following years, the leg-spinner earned a name for himself in the shorter format of the game. But for some reason, the Test career of the talented spinner never really took off. As a result, the Sri Lankan star cricketer has announced his retirement from the format.
Test cricket has not been kind to many leg-spinners. The longest format of the game has always been about consistency. A young spinner like Hasaranga lacks consistency in line and length. A lot of bowlers, who bowl spin today in Test cricket are off-spinners. According to the stats, it is pretty evident that Hasaranga has not been at his best in the format of his primary skill.
A good debut and unimpressive otherwise
The Galle-born cricketer played 4 Test matches in his career. In 7 innings, Hasaranga could pick only 4 wickets at a forgettable bowling average of 100.75, at a bowling strike rate of 168.5. With the bat tough, Hasaranga has better numbers. In 7 innings, Hasaranga scored 196 runs at a batting average of 28.00 including a fifty to his name.
On his Test debut, Hasaranga performed well as both a batter and a bowler. With the bat, Hasaranga scored 18(20) in the first innings and 59(53) in the second innings. With the ball, Hasaranga claimed 4 wickets in the first innings. But in 2021, Hasaranga played 3 Tests and could not pick a single wicket. With his good numbers in T20 Leagues, it is a good decision to retire from Test cricket.
