Wanindu Hasaranga announces shocking Test retirement at 26

Further proving the fact that Test cricket is no longer the only desired format for all budding cricketers across the globe, star Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga announced his retirement from the longest format of the game on Tuesday at the age of 26.

"Sri Lanka Men's all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has informed Sri Lanka Cricket that he will retire from playing test cricket. Informing his decision, Hasaranga said the reason behind the move is to prolong his career as a limited-overs specialist," said Sri Lanka Cricket in a release.

Hasaranga's decision may appear to be shocking on the surface area but deeper introspection is likely to paint a different picture.

As superb as Hasaranga has been in white-ball cricket - he is the current No.3 in T20I bowlers' rankings - he never quite managed to leave the same impact in Test cricket. While only four Tests are never a good enough sample size to judge a cricketer's calibre, his four wickets at an average of 100.75 in red-ball cricket were enough for Sri Lanka to keep him away from the format for more than two years.

His last Test was against Bangladesh at home in April 2021. He was a part of the different Test preparatory camps but never made it to the main squad in the last two years.

It was pretty evident that Hasaranga was not in Sri Lanka's red-ball plans, at least as things stand now but the leg-spinner who is also a handy batter lower down the order had ample time to change that. The fact that he didn't want to take the route and instead, decided to focus more on his white-ball career speaks volumes about the thought process of budding cricketers, especially the ones willing to ply their trade in various T20 leagues.

Hasaranga, a regular member of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, had to pull out of the Major League Cricket in the USA because he was selected in a training camp for Test cricketers. Like many other cricketers like England's Moeen Ali, he too chose the path of saying goodbye to Test cricket perhaps to be available for T20 leagues happening across the globe at different times of the year.

That SLC did not interfere as they did in Thisara Perera's early retirement announcement, was also an indication that boards have also accepted the change in the dynamics of cricket. "We will accept his decision and are confident that Hasaranga will be a vital part of our white-ball program going forward," said Ashley De Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket.

Hasaranga, who represented Sri Lanka in 48 ODIs and 58 T20I games, picking up a total of 158 wickets and scoring 1,365 runs, will, however, continue to be an integral part of Sri Lanka's white-ball squads.

Recently, he was instrumental in Sri Lanka qualifying for the ICC World Cup 2023. They won the Qualifier in Zimbabwe with the all-rounder ending as the tournament's highest wicket-taker with 22 scalps.