Last Updated on 4 months by Charbel Coorey

Terms such as “Underrated” and “Legend” are often used in cricket. However, not every cricket athlete gets associated with both terms at the same time. If there’s one cricketer who fits both categories, it’s undoubtedly Rangana Herath. The former Sri Lankan left-arm orthodox spinner is arguably one of the greatest bowlers to have played the game.

Despite playing a major part of his career during the Muttiah Muralitharan era, Herath went on to become a cult figure in Sri Lanka and did a fantastic job post the retirement of Muralitharan.

The 46-year-old is statistically the most successful left-arm spinner in the history of the game. Thus, it is safe to call Herath a “Silent Assassin”. With over 1,000 first-class wickets, 500 international wickets, and 400 Test wickets, the Sri Lankan had several iconic moments in his career.

During a recent exclusive interview with journalist Arvind Kalyana Krishnan obtained by CricBlog, Herath drew light on some of the illustrious moments of his career that spanned over two decades, and spoke about some of his personal favourite performances. Further on, he was candid about Sri Lankan cricket in general, and what winning the ICC World T20 in 2014 meant to him and the country. As far as the fifth edition of the biggest T20 tournament is concerned, it was Herath’s fifer against New Zealand that enabled the emerald nation to proceed to the knockouts.

As a matter of fact, his spell against New Zealand during the World T20 2014 is considered one of the greatest spells in the shortest format of the game. The fact that a bowler with 434 Test wickets played an instrumental role in winning his side a T20 World Cup speaks volumes of his versatility. In addition, while speaking to Arvind, Herath also gave his opinion on spinners of the current generation and picked some of his favorite spinners from this era.

Rangana Herath interview: Legendary spinners shares insights on his favourite moments and the best spinners currently

Below is the entire interview with Rangana Herath.

1) Throughout your career, you’ve bowled several memorable spells and have won many games for Sri Lanka. Which is your personal favourite spell? Which is your best spell/best performance according to you?

Rangana Herath: Firstly thank you very much for having me. So I’d like to highlight the first game that I played (for Sri Lanka) against Australia way back in 1999 in Galle. That was my debut, and it’s everyone’s dream to represent your country. So I was very happy that day. That was my biggest achievement, playing for the country. It was that whole game, which I still remember. I’ll remember that for my life.

After that, the second one was the Test which we won against South Africa in South Africa, that second Test in Durban. So basically I won the player of the match award and had picked nine wickets, so that was the second one.

Apart from that, winning the World Cup in 2014 and the fifer against New Zealand. I mean I’ve played a lot of games and there are many memorable spells but if I have to pick a few then the Test where I took 14 wickets against Pakistan, which was Mahela Jayawardene’s last Test and the other one is of course the three-Test match series against Australia which we won 3-0.

2) You’ve played many games against Australia and have a very good record against them. Could you draw light on a personal favourite memory/incident while playing against Australia? Is there a specific memory/incident against Australia that you will always remember?

Rangana Herath: Again, the one that was way back in 1999. It was my first game against Australia as well as my debut. So yeah, as I said earlier, that one and the series that we won 3-0 against Australia in 2016. So those two were my best memories while playing against Australia.

3) Are there any spinners from this era that have managed to impress you? Currently, who’s your favourite spinner (or who are your favourite spinners) in international cricket? Who would you rate as the best spinners of the current generation?

Rangana Herath: It’s got to be Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon if you take finger spinners. Another one I like is of course Keshav Maharaj from South Africa. I’m also always very keen on watching Kuldeep Yadav bowl I mean. As for Sri Lanka, of course, Prabath Jayasuriya, so yes, these are some of the names that come across my mind.

4) The World T20 2014 is special for every Sri Lankan fan. Not only did you win it, but you yourself had a memorable tournament. Your fifer against New Zealand is one of the greatest spells of all time. Could you draw light on what that campaign meant to you personally as Sri Lanka had won an ICC trophy after 18 years? What were the scenes in the dressing room after beating India to win the T20 WC in the final?

Rangana Herath: Ok, so I’ll first speak about the game against New Zealand. It was a must-win game for us during the Super 10 and during the first innings of the game, we had only scored 119 and by that time we all knew that we had to win that game otherwise we couldn’t get to the semis.

So if I were to speak about our plan then we all knew that if someone scored well, then it wouldn’t be easy to defend the total and keep the score below 119 so we had to pick all the wickets. So in that case the team and coaching staff had a very brief discussion….Before the game as well as during the game.

New Zealand at that time were struggling against spin. So at that time we had planned that whatever happens, we will bowl spinners during the powerplays. So we did the same thing. So I think I bowled two overs early on. I took the wickets of Brendon Mccullum and Ross Taylor during the powerplay overs. So the plan was to take all the wickets otherwise New Zealand would’ve won the game.

So yeah, the plan went according to the preparations. After that yes, as you mentioned we basically hadn’t won an ICC trophy for several years. We had last won the World Cup in 1996. After that, we came to the finals on numerous occasions but unfortunately we couldn’t be on the winning side. So basically, the T20 WC in 2014 was an opportunity.

So yes, we had a chance after 18 years as we had last won in 1996 and basically it was a big achievement as a cricketer, as a cricket team and as a nation. I mean it’s not an easy thing as we were waiting for this for a very long time for this…..We were waiting for this opportunity and trophy so yeah, it was a remarkable day for Sri Lanka cricket as well as individually and also for the team.

I still remember those memories like it happened today. So yes, I’m still hoping that someday Sri Lanka will get another ICC trophy in the near future. So I would like to wish Sri Lanka well and hope they do well in the future.

At the same time, I’d like to congratulate the Sri Lankan women’s team for winning the Women’s Asia Cup 2024. They made a remarkable achievement recently.

(Regarding the emotions after winning the T20 WC 2014) Obviously, yes, it was an emotional moment for me. Like I said earlier, we won an ICC trophy after 18 years so as a team member and as a team it was very emotional. At the end, we all celebrated that a lot as at the end of the day, winning an ICC trophy is a big thing. So it was a remarkable day for Sri Lanka….I mean for the country, for the team, and as an individual too.