has played 49 T20 internationals to date and has accumulated 1,335 runs in the process. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Veteran Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene announced Monday that the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 (T20) would be his last international appearance in the shortest format of cricket.
Jayawardene revealed his plans a day after teammate Kumar Sangakkara said he will retire from T20 after the tournament.
“The rationale behind retirement is pretty much the same as Sangakkara’s,” said Jayawardene. “When it is clear that I can’t see myself playing in the next World Twenty20, there wasn’t much point in me occupying a spot.”
He has played 49 T20 internationals to date and has accumulated 1,335 runs in the process.
“In many ways, it [T20] helped me get back to my roots,” he said. “It helped me bat like I used to when I was a schoolboy, for the sheer love of playing attacking shots and expressing myself with full freedom.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2014.
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