Stand-in Sri Lankan Test skipper Rangana Herath on Saturday has expressed he would be happy to claim 400-plus wickets in Test cricket after bagging the match figures of 9 for 131 in Galle Test which hosts eventually won comfortably by 259 runs against Bangladesh on the final day of the first Test of the two-match Test series when the visitors were bundled out for 197.
Herath requires another 34 wickets to cross past the mark of 400 Test wickets.
“If you can get to a target like that it would be terrific, because very few people have taken 400 Test wickets,” Herath was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.
The 38-year-old Herath said he would be giving his best for the country – to contribute at an individual level as far as he is representing national side.
“I’d love to get there, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll be in this form forever. But I’ll keep playing and contributing as I can for the team and for the country, and hope that the wickets keep coming,” Herath added.
The Kurunegala-born Herath also became the most successful left-arm spinner during the Galle Test when he surpassed the New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori’s record of 362 in 113 Tests.
“I have no regrets about starting late,” Herath remarked.
In the recently concluded first Test against the Tigers, Herath levelled the 29th five-wicket haul of his Test career with Australian great Glenn McGrath.
However, his former teammate is leading the charts by 67 five-wicket hauls followed by Australian former leg-spinner Shane Wane (37), Richard Hadlee (36) from New Zealand and Anil Kumble’s 35 from India.
However, Herath is second overall left-arm bowler behind Pakistan’s former skipper Wasim Akram who had claimed 414 wickets in his Test career in 104 Tests.
In 79 Tests, Herath has bagged 366 wickets since making his international debut in 1999.
Rangana has been the go-to slow bowler in Test format for Sri Lanka after the retirement of ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who had claimed staggering 800 wickets in 133 Tests during his long format career.