County Championship 2022: Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne joins Yorkshire

Sri Lanka‘s Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne will play for English County side Yorkshire after signing a short-term deal for the first of his three County Championship appearances, expected to start against Northamptonshire on April 21 (Thursday) at Wantage Road. He is expected to open the innings along with another left-handed batter Adam Lyth.

Karunaratne has scored five hundreds in his last eight Test appearances, including a career-best 244 against Bangladesh at Pallekele in April 2021. Talking about his overall numbers in Tests, Karunaratne has played 76 matches for Sri Lanka in which he has amassed 5,620 Test runs at an average of 39.57. The left-handed batter has also scored 14 centuries so far.

In ODIs, he has played 34 matches and has scored 767 runs at an average of 27.39. He has also stroked six fifties in the 50-over format. The 33-year-old is currently placed fifth in the best Test batter rankings in the world and has been in excellent form in recent months.

Delighted that Dimuth will be joining us: Yorkshire director Darren Gough

“We are delighted that Dimuth will be joining us for the next three Championship games. He has proven himself to be an exceptional leader for Sri Lanka and is a tremendous Test-match batter. It can only benefit the lads in our changing rooms to have a player of his quality and I’m sure they will all get a lot from it. I’m confident he will contribute runs and enjoy his time at Yorkshire.” Darren Gough, Yorkshire’s interim director of cricket, was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

To note, Karunaratne has become the third Asian overseas signing made by Yorkshire this season. Apart from Karunaratne, Pakistani express pacer Haris Rauf has also signed a deal with Yorkshire for the first six matches of the Championship season. Similarly, his countryman all-rounder Shadab Khan is also expected to join the team for the Vitality Blast, scheduled to be played later.