Veteran national player Shashikala Siriwardene is set to retire from all forms of international cricket after the Women’s T20 World Cup that will begin in a couple of weeks’ time.
Video – ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් වංශ කතාවේ අග රැජිනිය – ශෂිකලා සිරිවර්ධන – Powerplay – Shashikala Siriwardene
ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩාව වෙනුවෙන් අනුමපමේය සේවයක් ඉටු කර ඇති, තවමත් වාර්තා පිට වාර්තා
Head Coach of the Sri Lanka National Women’s Cricket team informed the media that Siriwardene, one of the most celebrated female cricketers of the nation has decided to call it quits after the Women’s T20 World Cup that will commence on the 21st of February in Australia.
Siriwardene has been an invaluable member of Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20I teams, playing a key role with both bat and ball as well as captaining the team in 98 international games so far. She made her debut for Sri Lanka back in 2003 and contributed straight away, with both bat and ball. The right-handed bat and off-spin bowler could well be regarded as Sri Lanka’s greatest ever all-rounder in the women’s game, having become the only player to score 2000 runs and pick up 100 wickets in ODIs; she is also currently Sri Lanka’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs and T20Is.
Sri Lanka Cricket awards contracts to women players
Sri Lanka Cricket has awarded 20 national players and 15 emerging players contracts for six months and three months respectively
Siriwardene shone on the international scene with great consistency, reaching the top of the ICC Women’s T20 all-rounder rankings in 2014. She also achieved a career high of 4th in the ODI all-rounder rankings and 6th in the T20 bowlers’ rankings in 2013. In fact, 2013 was a special year for women’s cricket in Sri Lanka as a whole as the team, led by Siriwardene, shocked heavyweights England and India at the Women’s World Cup in India.
Siriwardene’s career was hampered on and off by injury, but she was always good enough to walk righ into the national set up as soon as she recovered. Siriwardene will bid adieu to the sport after nearly 17 years of service and will go out as a true legend of the game.
Records
| Format | Matches | Runs | Wickets |
| ODIs | 118 | 2029 | 124 |
| T20Is | 77 | 1079 | 70 |
