Dimuth Karunaratne
Dimuth Karunaratne – A Talented Batsman From Sri Lanka
Dimuth Karunaratne is a Sri Lankan professional cricketer and an opening batter. A former member of Sri Lanka’s national cricket team in the Test and ODI formats, he was the long-time former leader of the national side and is regarded as one of the best opening batters in the world in Test cricket. He jointly holds, together with Marvan Atapattu, the record for the most Test centuries scored by a Sri Lankan opener –16.
Dimuth Karunaratne: Biography And Sporting Career
Dimuth Karunaratne (full name: Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne) was born on April 21, 1988, in Sri Lanka’s largest city, Colombo. His parents – his father Lal, a civil servant, and his mother Chandrika, a homemaker – were representatives of the classic Sri Lankan middle class, and they put in a huge amount of effort to secure their son a proper education and a sporting future. Dimuth often points out in interviews that his success is the result of the sacrifices made by his parents. Despite their modest income, they managed to send him to one of the capital’s prestigious schools – St. Joseph’s College. An interesting fact: in his landmark 100th Test match in February 2025, Dimuth walked onto the field accompanied by his parents, underlining their role in his sporting career:
“At this stage I like to thank my parents who always gave full freedom to play this game my family members relatives and fans who always backed me … without their support I couldn’t come on this journey”.
Alongside Karunaratne, St. Joseph’s College has produced many Sri Lankan cricketers. The most famous among them include Chaminda Vaas, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera and Sadeera Samarawickrama – and that list could go on for quite a while. In 2008, the St Joseph’s College team pulled off a historic win over their arch-rivals, snapping a 35-year winless streak in the school derby known as the “Battle of the Saints” against St. Peter’s College, and Dimuth was part of that “golden generation” of players.
After coming through the school and youth cricket system, Dimuth Karunaratne joined the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in 2008. In 2011, after impressing in the domestic championship, he received a call-up to the senior national side in ODI cricket, and some time later he was also named in the Test squad for the tour of South Africa, although he did not make it onto the field then.
Karunaratne’s full Test debut came in 2012 against New Zealand. The match began in disastrous fashion for the player: in his very first innings, Dimuth failed to score a single run, but he bounced back in the second innings with a confident 60. Years later, it was precisely this ability to handle pressure from the opposition that helped him become captain of the Test side at the beginning of 2019.
We are not going to restore the full chronology of the athlete’s career in detail, and will instead focus only on its turning points and brightest moments:
- December 2014: Dimuth Karunaratne scored his maiden Test century (152) in a match against New Zealand in Christchurch, confirming his status as an opener of international quality.
- 2017: he struck three Test centuries in a single calendar year (Karunaratne became only the second Sri Lankan after Tillakaratne Dilshan to post such a result). The standout knocks were 196 against Pakistan in Dubai and 141 against India in Colombo.
- February 2019: under his captaincy, Sri Lanka pulled off the impossible by winning the series 2-0 against South Africa. The team became the first Asian side to defeat South Africa on their home soil.
- 2021: Karunaratne hit the peak of his individual form. The crown jewel of the season was his first double century (244 runs) in a Test match against Bangladesh. Thanks to his phenomenal output, he was nominated for the prestigious ICC Test Player of the Year award and deservedly made the ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year.
- 2021-2023: he reached the milestone of 6,000 runs and scored his 16th Test century – a record for Sri Lankan openers. In doing so, he drew level with Marvan Atapattu in this category.
- February 6, 2025: his 100th and farewell Test match against Australia in Galle. He walked onto the field accompanied by his parents, played his final innings, and wrapped up his international career with 7,222 runs from 100 Test matches.
Dimuth Karunaratne officially retired from international cricket in February 2025. His farewell match was his milestone 100th Test against Australia, played at the same stadium where he had made his debut as a cricketer. The 36-year-old admitted that a dip in his personal form, along with the desire to make way for younger players ahead of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, made this the perfect time to step away. Soon after that, Karunaratne officially confirmed his intention to move into coaching. He traveled to Australia to undergo training and obtain coaching qualifications, with the aim of returning to Sri Lankan cricket in a new role in the future.
Dimuth Karunaratne: Personal Life And Interesting Facts
Dimuth is married to Anuradha Kurukulasooriya, a well-known Sri Lankan model and actress. Before the wedding, she was actively building her career in the fashion and film industry. The couple got married in 2015 in Colombo. It was a large-scale, high-status event. Even the President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena attended the ceremony, which highlighted the level of respect Dimuth enjoyed in the country. The couple is raising a daughter, and unlike many modern stars, Karunaratne keeps his child away from unnecessary media attention.
- To round off the article, we have prepared several curious facts and statistical notes from the athlete’s career:
- “The Dimma” is a friendly, almost family-style nickname that stuck with him in the Sri Lankan team dressing room.
- Dimuth’s elder brother, Niluka, is a legend of Sri Lankan badminton; he represented the country at three Olympic Games.
- His younger brother, Dinuka, also competed successfully at international level and was among Asia’s top badminton players.
- Interestingly, Dimuth himself was also very good at badminton as a child and even considered building a career in that sport, but in the end he picked up the cricket bat instead – and clearly did not regret it.
The most notable and only serious personal incident involving the player came on March 31, 2019, in Colombo, when Dimuth was involved in a road accident while under the influence of alcohol: his car collided with a three-wheeled taxi, whose driver sustained injuries.
Despite moving to Australia, Dimuth Karunaratne remains a media figure and continues to support charitable projects in Sri Lanka remotely, helping young players from low-income families get access to quality equipment.
His social media accounts (Instagram – @dimuthk_123, Facebook – @iamdimuth and X – IamDimuth) are now filled more with snapshots of family walks in Victoria’s parks and barbecues with friends than with sporting reports.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Bat Avg | Top Score | Balls bowled | Wickets | Bowl Avg | Best Bowl | Catches |
| Test | 100 | 7 222 | 39.25 | 244 | 312 | 2 | 101.00 | 1/12 | 62 |
| ODI | 50 | 1 316 | 31.33 | 103 | 16 | 0 | – | – | 17 |
| T20s | 34 | 543 | 16.96 | 80 | – | 0 | – | – | 17 |
| List A | 169 | 5 187 | 35.52 | 132 | 84 | 3 | 21.33 | 2/13 | 74 |
| FC | 218 | 15 871 | 44.83 | 244 | 844 | 4 | 128.35 | 1/6 | 187 |
