Dimuth Karunaratne joins Yorkshire for short-term Championship stint

Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka's Test captain, has signed for Yorkshire on a short-term deal, with the first of his three LV= County Championship appearances due to take place against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Thursday.

Karunaratne, 33, is currently the No.5-ranked Test batter in the world, and has enjoyed a prolific run of form in recent months, with five centuries in his last eight Tests, including a career-best 244 against Bangladesh at Pallekele in April 2021.

In all he has scored 5,620 Test runs at 39.57, with a total of 14 hundreds, and looks set to form a left-handed opening partnership with Adam Lyth at the top of Yorkshire's batting card.

"We are delighted that Dimuth will be joining us for the next three Championship games," Darren Gough, Yorkshire's interim director of cricket, said. "He has proven himself to be an exceptional leader for Sri Lanka and is a tremendous Test-match batter.

"It can only benefit the lads in our changing rooms to have a player of his quality and I'm sure they will all get a lot from it. I'm confident he will contribute runs and enjoy his time at Yorkshire."

Karunaratne is the third Asian overseas signing made by Yorkshire this season, following a winter of off-field turmoil in the wake of Azeem Rafiq's allegations of institutional racism. Haris Rauf, the Pakistani fast bowler, has signed for at least the first six matches of the Championship season, while Shadab Khan, the legspinning allrounder, will join for the Vitality Blast.