The Banker Who Took More Than 500 Wickets
Rangana Herath who turns 47 years today, holds the record for the most wickets taken by a Left Arm Test Bowler and the longest span of 19 years for Sri Lanka Cricket!
Banking on flight, accuracy and his ability to bowl long spells, even when he was nearing the 40s, Rangana Herath's career from Banker to Test Captain with 525 wickets in his 19 year long career is a testament of hard work and consistency!
Born on a day like this in 1978, he started his schooling at Mayurapada Central College and later moved to Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala. He even captained his school team in 1997.
Working as a Bank Clerk and Late Career Revival
He started working at Sampath Bank as a clerk before making to the Test side in 1999. He didn't play a lot in the initial stage of his career until the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, and made his stunning comeback in 2009 to take over as the frontline spinner.
He wasn't tall, but he deceived batters on flight that either trapped batters on the front foot or nicked an outside edge. He could have easily played over 100 Test matches had he played more often in between the time Murali was the main spin bowler of the team but fun fact - he took as many as 238 Test wickets after turning 35 years. The closest to this is James Anderson who took 224 wickets by the time of his retirement!
Retiring with the Longest Career
When considering the time between the start and end years, the period of 19 years is the longest for any Sri Lankan Cricketer. As a Test bowler, he took 433 wickets as the second most for Sri Lanka and most importantly, the most among any left arm bowler in Test Cricket history!
He also had the privilege to captain the Test team just before his retirement in 2018, and just like he always gets carried by his team mates when he takes a wicket, he was carried for one final time in Galle as "Rangayya", the most senior cricketer of the team who played for nearly two decades.
Another notable fact is that when he retired, he was the last cricketer to retire among those who made their international debuts in the 20th century.
Post retirement, he also retired as a banker and is currently the spin bowling coach for New Zealand having previously coached Bangladesh. Here's to wishing the underrated "Rangayya" on his 47th birthday today!
A special mention is that he took 5/3 in 3.3 overs against New Zealand in the 2014 T20 World Cup. Here's a recap of that incredible spell by this Test bowler!