Dimuth Karunaratne Turns 32: A Look At His Lesser Known Facts

Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka Test and ODI captain, turned 32 on Tuesday. He was born on this day in 1988, Colombo, and regarded as one of the finest Test batsman of his national team. In 2017, Dimuth Karunaratne became only the second Sri Lanka batsman after Tillakaratne Dilashan, to score three centuries in a calendar year.

Following poor performances in New Zealand and Australia, ex-captain Dinesh Chandimal was dropped from the side, and subsequently Karunaratne was named as the stand-in captain. He was given the full-time captaincy role in February 2019, and Sri Lanka enjoyed a golden period under him. The islanders became the first team to win a series in South Africa and third overall after England and Australia. In the ODIs, Karunaratne began his captaincy stint with a series triumph over Scotland in 2019.

Dimuth Karunaratne: As a player

Karunaratne, 32, has cemented his spot as an opener through his consistent performances. His home performance against Australia was, however, questionable. He has the highest Test score of 196 which came against Pakistan in Dubai during Sri Lanka’s first Day-Night Test. He also became the first Sri Lankan to score a 50, 100 and 150 in a Day-Night Test. In 2017, he was the second Test batsman to score 1000 runs in a calendar year behind Dean Elgar.

Overall, he has 4524 Test runs at an average of 36.78. He has notched up 24 half-centuries and nine centuries in the longest format. In the ODIs, he has played 31 matches, and scored 683 matches at an average of 27.32. He has hit five half-centuries in the format.

Dimuth Karunaratne: What is he up to now

Dimuth Karunaratne is a regular feature for his national team. He was a part of the team during the West Indies series in March, this year. However, with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Karunaratne is with his family in quarantine, to withstand the situation.

Dimuth Karunaratne: Lesser known facts

At the 2019 World Cup, he became only the second batsman after Ridley Jacobs to carry in his bat in the marquee tournament. Karunaratne studied at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, which has formed a number of Sri Lankan cricketers such as Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas and Thisara Perera. He was record-breaking batsman his school team.

He tied the knot with actress and model named Anuradha Kurukulasooriya on April 29, 2015 at Gangaramaya Shrine, Colombo, in the presence of Sri Lankan President Maithreepala Sirisena.