India head coach Rahul Dravid and former captain Virat Kohli made a lovely gesture for the retiring Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal on Sunday during the Bangalore Test.
Suranga Lakmal, who made his Sri Lanka debut in 2009, will be retiring from all forms of international cricket following this Test tour of India. The 34-year-old seamer has featured in 70 Tests, 86 ODIs, and 11 T20Is for Sri Lanka, picking up over 270 wickets. Lakmal has been the leader of Sri Lanka’s pace attack for the past few years, and has also captained Sri Lanka in the past.
The Bangalore Test is his last international game, and for this, Dravid and Kohli went to the Sri Lankan dressing room after India’s second innings had come to an end.
When Lakmal along with his teammates was returning to the Sri Lankan dressing room, he smiled seeing Dravid and Kohli there. The Indian pair shook their hands with the Lankan pacer and congratulated him for his career.
The BCCI uploaded the video of his on their Twitter handle. Fans lauded this gesture from Kohli and Dravid and the video has already gained over 15,000 likes.
Head Coach Rahul Dravid and former #TeamIndia Captain @imVkohli congratulate Suranga Lakmal as he is all set to bid adieu to international cricket.@Paytm #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/Vroo0mlQLB
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 13, 2022
While on the spin-friendly home tracks, Lakmal didn’t have much to offer, he has a brilliant record away from home. Lakmal has a five-wicket haul in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies.
Lakmal has also captained Sri Lanka in five Tests in 2018, winning three of them – two against South Africa at home and one in West Indies in a day-night contest. He was a key bowler in Sri Lanka’s historic Test series victory in South Africa in 2019.
“I’m indebted to Sri Lanka Cricket for giving me this astonishing opportunity and having faith in me to bring my motherland honour, as it has been [an] absolute pleasure to be associated with the board that shaped my professional life and also enriched my personal development,” he said in his retirement letter submitted to Sri Lanka Cricket.
Lakmal has signed a two-year deal with Derbyshire, where he will be reunited with his former Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur, who joined Derbyshire as director of cricket last year.
In the ongoing Test series, Lakmal picked 2 wickets in the Mohali Test while managing just a solitary scalp in Bangalore.
