Amidst ongoing pressure, flamboyant Sri Lankan cricketer Tilakaratne Dilshan is retiring from One Day International as well as T20 Cricket.

Announcing the decision during the ongoing series with Australia, Dilshan confirmed he will play his final ODI at Dambulla on Sunday and his last T20 International at Colombo on September 9, both against the ODI World Champions.

Despite being at peak form with an average of 49.18 since 2013 in ODIs with his best form being in 2015 in which he scored 1207 runs at an average of 52.47, the selectors and captain have been asking him to hang his boots while the Sri Lankans prepare a team for the next World Cup in 2019.

Dilshan bloomed, but late at the top level.  After having debuted in 1999, he batted mostly in the lower middle order,  his growth came in at the top order when he consistently opened in 2009 in limited overs cricket.

Having scored 1000 or more ODI runs in a calendar year four times since being sent permanently up the order, Dilshan never failed to amass fewer than 800 runs between 2009 and 2015.  He was the fourth Sri Lanka batsman, after Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, to cross 10,000 ODI runs.

Bidding Adieu to another fine player.

Source: ESPN Cricinfo