13 wickets in the last test match and 28 wickets in the series. Both these wicket figures are record for a Sri Lankan against Australia. Captaincy After usual captain Angelo Mathews injured during ODI series against Australia, vice captain Dinesh Chandimal was also injured during T20I series of the same tour. With these major players absent, Herath was appointed as the captain of Test team for the Zimbabwe tour. On 29 September 2016, he led the team in a test match, becoming the oldest player to lead a Test team for the first time since Somachandra de Silva in 1983. The match was won by Sri Lanka, where Herath led from the front, took 6 wickets in the match. On 8 November 2016, Herath took his 27th five wicket haul, becoming the third overall to take five-wicket hauls against all Test-playing nations, after Muttiah Muralitharan and Dale Steyn. He took 13 wickets in the second test match, recording best bowling figures against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe. He dismissed Carl Mumba by taking 350th wicket, recorded as the oldest player to achieve the feat. Only Muralitharan has taken more 12-wicket hauls than Herath, who has five to Murali's six. Sri Lanka whitewashed Zimbabwe 2-0 and Herath adjudged man of the match for his impressive performance. For his performances in 2016, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC and Cricinfo. 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. In the fourth innings of first Test in Galle, Herath surpassed 362 test wickets by Daniel Vettori to become the most successful left-arm spinner in Test cricket history. He took six wickets at the end to give Sri Lanka a 257 runs win. With three consecutive wins, Herath became the first Sri Lanka captain to achieve this feat. He was only the second left arm spinner to grab 350+ test wickets after Daniel Vettori in test history. In the second match, Herath reached another milestone, by dismissing Mustafizur Rahman, to record 1,000 first-class wickets. He is the second player from Sri Lanka and the 12th from the subcontinent to achieve the feat. Despite his milestones, Sri Lanka lost the match by four wickets, which is their first defeat against Bangladesh. The Test series was drawn 1–1. Herath was appointed as the stand-in