OTD | Sri Lanka’s star spinner Rangana Herath was born in 1978

Filling the shoes of the most successful bowler in the history of Test cricket is a daunting task. However, Rangana Herath performed this task to the best of his abilities as he took over the mantle from Muttiah Muralitharan. After Murali retired from Test cricket, Herath became the leader of the spin unit for Sri Lanka in Tests and stayed in that role for a long time. 

Rangana Herath made his international debut at a very young age in 1999 when he played his maiden Test against Australia at Galle. However, soon after making his debut, he was out of the scene for almost five years. He made his comeback to the Test team in 2004 in a Test series against the same team, Australia. After his comeback, he was inducted into the ODI team as well. The talented left-arm spinner made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in Harare. Later in his career, Herath also represented Sri Lanka in T20Is. 

The Test veteran

Rangana Herath became a regular in Test for Sri Lanka in 2008. He was still under Murali’s shadows but once the legend hung up his boots, Herath became the leading spinner for his team. Since then, he has never looked back. He played 93 Test matches for Sri Lanka and picked up 433 wickets at an average of 28.07. The left-arm orthodox retired as the second-highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in Test cricket, just behind Muttiah Muralitharan. Though the left-arm spinner could not play too many games in white ball cricket, he still has decent numbers in shorter formats. 

Rangana Herath represented Sri Lanka in 71 One-Day internationals and 17 T20Is. In 50-over cricket, he had 74 wickets to his name at an average of 31.91 whereas in T20I cricket he registered 18 wickets. Herath finished his career as one of the all-time greats for Sri Lanka, etching his name in the glorious history of Sri Lankan cricket. He played his last Test match against England in 2018. 

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