Sripali Weerakkody bids adieu to International Cricket

Sri Lankan all rounder Sripali Weerakkody announced her retirement from International Cricket after a 12 year long career. Making her debut in 2006, she went on to play 89 ODIs and 58 T20Is for Sri Lanka, scoring a total of 931 runs and taking 89 wickets across formats.

Weerakkody represented Sri Lanka in three ODI  World Cups: 2009, 2013 and 2017, and five T20 World Cups: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018. Her last appearance in Sri Lankan colours was back in 2018, against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup at Gros Islet.

In a press release shared by Sri Lanka Cricket, Weerakkody said, “I have decided to call it a day. So I feel this is the right time for me. The decision to retire was a personal decision.”
“This had been my dream as a female cricketer in the Sri Lankan National pool after 16 years of international cricket. Most people used to ask me why I was not to been seen on the field last year and this was the result of my absence. Now I can train any international team and travel to any country for training with these qualifications.”

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Weerakkody, who was also part of the Sri Lanka side that won the bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games, ventured into professional fitness training recently. She became the first female cricketer from Sri Lanka to qualify as a fitness trainer from the Australian Institute of Fitness.

Weerakkody posted a tweet expressing her gratitude towards the people who supported her throughout her career. Weerakkody, a right arm quick who batted left handed, wrote, “I wish to thank all my loyal fans and followers who encouraged me in my cricketing journey, my family, my true friends who were always with me no matter what, Srilanka Cricket, ICC, my team members, Cricket coaches, cricket Managers and media..Thank you for not giving up on me.”