As Dimuth Karunaratne bids goodbye, an era begins to end

Dimuth Karunaratne had begun his final trek to the pavilion when his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal called out to him. They've shared dressing rooms, team buses, and hotels for a decade-and-a-half for various Sri Lanka teams, and at this moment knew they would never again bat together in internationals. Chandimal wanted one more moment with his friend. As soon as Karunaratne turned around, Chandimal enveloped him, and held him a few seconds. The thousands looking on could not have missed it - there was love in that embrace.

When Karunaratne resumed his exit and the crowd rose to give him a standing ovation, he soaked up the applause, but perhaps spotted that another act of PDA was coming.

Angelo Mathews has an interesting history with entering the field of play. In the 2023 World Cup, he became the first batter in the history of internationals to be timed out, and has been rushing to the middle ever since. This time, he waited at the edge of the boundary so his friend could have benefit of the crowd's attention for every inch of his final perambulation as a Test batter. When Karunaratne stepped off the field, Mathews made sure to envelop him as well.

Before this Test, Karunaratne had remembered that on his debut at this same ground in 2012, Mathews had been the first one to console him in the dressing room after he was out for a duck in the first innings. "I was moping around when Angie came and spoke to me. He told me he'd got a duck in his first innings as well," Karunaratne said. In the press conference he held before this match, Karunaratne became emotional as he spoke about the camaraderie he will never experience again once this match is over.

There is, over the next couple of years, an era ending for Sri Lanka. We know why. Karunaratne is a Test specialist, and has said outright that part of his decision to retire was down to the fact that Sri Lanka only have two more Tests scheduled over roughly the next 15 months.

By the time Sri Lanka's schedule picks up again, Karunaratne would be 38. Mathews would be closing in on 39. Chandimal would be 36. Of these players, Chandimal is the only one who even gets picked in white-ball squads any more, and even he has not played a limited-overs international since 2022.

Though it may not have the weight of TM Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath all winding down their careers at roughly the same time, this too is a significant waning. These are all batters who have played lead roles in some of Sri Lanka's most celebrated Test victories.

With Karunaratne now gone, there are the questions of how much remains from Mathews and Chandimal that Sri Lanka will have to wrestle with. Would Mathews really want to hang around for almost a year for more Tests, or will he consider exiting during the series against Bangladesh (he himself having added serious spice to that rivalry)? Chandimal appears primed to play another World Test Championship cycle, having averaged 50.18 since moving to No. 3 in September. But things move fast when you're in your mid-30s in top-level cricket, and Sri Lanka's team management have tended to regard dips in form as evidence of permanent decline. Already over the last several months, there were serious discussions about dropping one of the senior batters for an away Test.

In this Test, Chandimal struck 72 to give Sri Lanka's ailing first innings some heft. Mathews made 76 in the second innings to ensure that Australa would at least have to bat again. These batters innately understand that every run they score while over 35 has a preciousness that the runs they scored in their youth did not. They understand too, how getting to 70-odd without kicking on to truly monumental scores will be interpreted. These are good scores, but are they match-winning ones?

Beyond all that there are more profound uncertainties. Are these the last skinny polar bears on their dwindling ice floes? What happens if in the next World Test Championship, Sri Lanka winds up in the second tier? What if there are even fewer Tests, and fewer opportunities for Sri Lanka cricketers to develop long-form skills and nous? Is this the beginning of the end for not only this generation of Sri Lanka Test cricketers, but of Sri Lanka's Test cricket?

For now, we can only treasure what is left of this set of Sri Lanka's Test talent. There will be time to eulogise Mathews', and Chandimal's careers, just as they knew this was the moment to cherish Karunaratne's.

The hope is, that only careers are coming to an end.