Considered as one of the best spinners to ever play the game, Herath is the most successful left arm bowler in Test cricket history.

On 11 March 2017, Herath surpassed 362 wickets by Daniel Vettori to become the most successful left-arm spinner in Test cricket history.

[3] On 10 February 2018 during Bangladesh tour, Herath became the most successful left-arm bowler in Test cricket history by surpassing Wasim Akram.

On 29 May 2016, Herath became the third Sri Lankan bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket history after Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

With this he became the oldest Sri Lankan player to lead a Test team for the first time and from any country since Tom Graveney in 1968.

[10][11] In the first innings of the match, he became the third bowler to take 100 Test wickets at the same venue, when he dismissed the England captain Joe Root.

[12] After the match, Herath said that it was "the right time" to retire, finishing his career with 433 Test wickets, the most for a left-arm spin bowler.

[14] Herath was born on 19 March 1978, in the small village of Waduwawa, Kurunegala, on the southeastern tip of the Northwestern Province as the second of the family.

He was promoted to opening batting in school times, and acted as a pacer, until his coach told him to start spin bowling due to height problem.

Before starting professional career, Herath was working at Sampath Bank as a clerk, when he met brother of Chandika Hathurusingha.

During the 2016 England series, Herath was ranked as 13th Test match bowler in the world, having hit the heights of second in the list in 2012.

Herath made a successful comeback to Test cricket in 2009 against Pakistan and took over the mantle of Sri Lanka's main spin bowler from Muralitharan.

[22] After playing second role in the team for long time behind the shadow of maestro Muttiah Muralitharan, Herath ascended to prominence against Australia in 1999 with a "mystery" ball.

Though Sri Lanka won, he only managed to take the wicket of Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh in that match.

In the second Test of Sri Lanka's tour of South Africa in December 2011, Herath took nine wickets and won the Man of the Match award.

Herath was England's latest spin tormentor with 6 for 74 during the first inning and he took another 6 wickets for just 97 runs and confirmed the Sri Lanka's victory against the touring English team.

[26] Herath memorably took figures of 5–3 against New Zealand in the 2014 World T20, a spell that helped Sri Lanka qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.

[32] In the first match at Galle against West Indies in 2015, Sri Lanka posted a huge total of 484 with the help of two centuries.

Herath took 4/79 in second innings, finished his fifth ten-wicket haul in Test cricket and adjudged man of the match award as well.

West Indies required 245 runs to win the match, but Herath strikes again, picked up 4 wickets and sealed the game for Sri Lanka.

On 11 February 2018, against Sri Lanka, Herath overtook the legendary Wasim Akram's wicket tally in Test cricket to become the highest wicket-taking left-arm bowler.

[38] During the second Test at Galle, Herath took a hat-trick by dismissing Adam Voges, Peter Nevill, and Mitchell Starc in the Australian first innings.

[42] His ten wicket haul in the match gave the series whitewash against Number 1 ranked Australia for the first time in history.

I actually think he's the greatest role model that Sri Lanka cricket have ever had - the way he's played the game and the way he's entered and formed relationships with players.

Herath was appointed as the Test captain for the March 2017 Bangladesh tour in home soil, after Angelo Mathews was not able to recover from the injuries.

During the second innings where Sri Lanka had to chase 550 runs, Herath did not bat, due to an injury suffered while fielding.

[55] With Asela Gunaratne too ruled out of the rest of the series due to a "pretty serious" fractured thumb which he suffered on the opening day of the match,[56] Sri Lanka had to play with nine players.

In the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo he took 4/154 as India won the match by an innings and 53 runs.

[72] In July 2018, during an interview with BBC Sinhala, he hinted that the England tour of Sri Lanka will be his final international appearance.

In September 2024, Herath was named as the spin bowling coach of the New Zealand national cricket team for the test series against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.