Sri Lanka’s Shashikala Siriwardene, made a decision to retire from all forms of the game prior to the T20 World Cup in Australia. The Colombo-born who made her debut back in 2003 in an ODI versus the West Indies at the Kingston in Jamaica, has represented her country in 118 ODIs and 80 T20Is.
The 35-year-old has made over 3,100 runs with nine half-centuries and has had 197 wickets in her 17-year long career.
In the ongoing World Cup, she has kept her reputation as a quality all-rounder by scoring 18 runs and having 3 wickets in three games. Her best performance in the World Cup was 2/20 against Australia in Perth.
Team Sri Lanka has lost all three games and has been eliminated. Their last group match against Bangladesh in Melbourne is a dead rubber.
Since Sri Lanka is eliminated, Siriwardene will be taking the field one last time on March 2. And therefore, the Women in Blue decided to felicitate and thank her for the contribution to women’s cricket. The Indian Women squad signed an Indian jersey with best wishes written for Siriwardene. India’s most flamboyant and talented opener, Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Shikha Pandey alongside gave away the jersey to the veteran.
On one hand, team Sri Lanka is out and Team India on the other is dominating the World Cup group A charts. The women in blue are the first ones to qualify for the semi-finals after winning 4 out of 4 matches, defeating Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka with team efforts.
Semi-finals will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground on March 5. As of now, India will play against an undecided opponent.
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