JOIN USAfter the disappointment of losing their fourth straight final, Mahela Jayawardene announced that he was going to step down as the captain of the Sri Lanka T20 team.
“It’s not a surprise, I had a chat with the selectors before the tournament that I was going to step down from T20 captaincy after this World T20,” disclosed Jayawardene after a 36-run defeat in the final against the West Indies here on Sunday night.
“I personally feel that, for Sri Lanka going forward, I think, we need a younger leader. I think it’s a great opportunity for somebody to start (captaincy) in the T20 format. I had spoken to the selectors and they were quite happy with the choice I’ve made. I haven’t stepped down from other formats. Obviously I took over till December till the Australian
series. I will assess what I want to do after that.”
Jayawardene admitted it hurt him to suffer four losses in the final. “You want do something special not just for yourself but for the public as well. We have been playing some good cricket, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to cross that hurdle.
“As a player, as a cricketer and as an individual it hurts a lot. We just need to move on and keep fighting again,” he remarked.
The outgoing Lankan skipper praised Marlon Samuels’ effort with the bat.
“Marlon took a gamble after the 12th over and it paid off for him. I think those are individual performances that you have to give credit to. Under pressure he put his hand up and performed and that was the crucial moment which we couldn’t control. We needed a couple of partnerships which we didn’t get,” he regretted.