New Delhi [India] June 21 : ICC Chairman Jay Shah congratulated former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews as he officially brought his storied Test career to an end on Saturday after the first test against Bangladesh at Galle.
Mathews, on May 23, announced that the first test match against Bangladesh will be his last red-ball appearance for his country.
Sri Lanka batted out 32 overs in the final session of Day 5 to ensure the first Test in Galle ended in a draw against Bangladesh.
Jay Shah posted on his Instagram account, "Congratulations on a fantastic Test career, Angelo Mathews! More than 8000 runs across 16 years shows your dedication and longevity in whites, and sets an example for future stars of the game."
Matthews had a decent outing in the first innings and scored 39 runs. In the second innings, he failed to do much and was dismissed for eight.
The teams shook hands with five overs left to play in the day, with Dhananjaya de Silva and having played out 53 balls in their partnership.
During a run-chase of 296 runs, Dhananjaya and Kamindu had come together after Sri Lanka had lost both Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal in quick succession, both to the excellent Taijul Islam, who ended on figures of 3 for 23.
Speaking about his retirement, Matthews in the post-match presentation said, "Since I announced my retirement, I can't believe the love that I have received so far. I am certainly overwhelmed. Ever so grateful to all those who supported me right throughout. It wasn't an easy journey; there were a lot of ups and downs, happiness and sadness."
Mathews, who made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2009, has been a cornerstone of Sri Lankan cricket for over 15 years, excelling as both an all-rounder and a leader.
Aggregating 8214 in 119 matches, he is only behind Kumar Sangakkara (12,400) and Mahela Jayawardena (11,814) for most Test runs by a Sri Lankan. He also proved handy with the ball with 33 wickets to his name.