Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara retires

Nuwan Kulasekara

Sri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara has decided to call time on his career and retire from international career. Nuwan Kulasekara finishes off as the third-highest fast bowling wicket-take for Sri Lanka, only behind stalwarts Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga.

Nuwan Kulasekara has a special place in the hearts of Indian fans who remember him as the bowler who got hit by MS Dhoni for a six to win the World Cup in 2011.

The 37-year-old had 199 scalps in 184 ODIs while he took another 66 wickets in 58 T20 matches in a career spanning over 15 years. He also played 21 Tests for the island nation taking 48 wickets.

Kulasekara last represented Sri Lanka in an ODI against Zimbabwe in Hambantota in July 2017 and hasn't played any competitive match since March 2018.

Nuwan Kulasekara was one of Sri Lanka's heroes during their victorious 2014 World T20 campaign in which he took eight wickets in six matches at an economy rate of 6.42.

In the final against India in Dhaka, NuwanKulasekara had figures of 1 for 29 with Yuvraj Singh failing to go big against him.

Kulasekara was ranked as the No.1 bowler in March 2009 ICC rankings and his career-best ODI figures of 5 for 22 came in 2013 against Australia in Brisbane.

Nuwan Kulasekara is 37-years-old now and just celebrated his birthday on July 22. Kulasekara retires just before Lasith Malinga who is set to retire from ODI cricket after the first match of the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh three-match series.

With inputs from PTI

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates