Sri Lankan Test Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne will make his county debut today (21) which is also his 34th birthday. He is playing for Yorkshire against Northamptonshire at Northampton.

He will be part of the county for 3 matches and will be hoping to continue his excellent form. Karunaratne the left hand opener is in good form having 5 centuries in his last eight Tests matches.

Karunaratne was forced to miss Yorkshire’s opening game against Gloucestershire at Bristol due to a delay in obtaining his visa. He is due to play three matches for Yorkshire in the first half of the season before returning home to lead his country in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, Australia, and Pakistan. Karunaratne is expected to join the National team on May 9 before the first Test against Bangladesh which is scheduled to commence on May 15. Karunaratne is expected to return to play in Yorkshire’s last four matches of the season next September.

Karunaratne also got an opportunity to play Nottinghamshire at the last year county season but it was missed due to visa delay and now he is very keen to join Yorkshire this season.

“I am very happy to get this chance and it’s my dream come truth and getting exposure from county cricket is more important to build up my career”. “As a Test player this will be good opportunity for me,” said Karunaratne, the 34-year-old left hand opener who played 76 Test matches scoring 5620 runs with 14 centuries and 27 half centuries.