Mahela Jayawardene has resigned as the T20 skipper of Sri Lanka. Jayawardene told the reporters about his decision in the press conference after the final match of the World T20 Championship on Sunday night.
In the final match, the Sri Lankan team was defeated by 36 runs. But, Jayawardene made it quite clear that his decision to resign has nothing to do with the defeat of Sri Lanka in the final. Jayawardene said, “It was my last match as the T20 captain of Sri Lanka. I think that it’s the time for a youngster to take over the captaincy of the T20 team. I will continue captaining the test and ODI sides.”
“Our defeat in today’s match is not the reason behind my resignation. Before the start of the tournament, I had told the selectors that I would step down after this tournament. I will continue to give my contribution as a player in the shortest format of the game.”
When asked about the performance of Sri Lanka in today’s match, Jayawardene said, “We started brilliantly and the first 10-12 overs were fantastic for us. But, after that, we lost the momentum. Samuels decided to take on our best bowler and he succeeded in that. He played a great knock and his inning shifted the momentum in the favour of West Indies.”
“137 was a decent score on this pitch. It was a two paced track and there was a bit of bounce in it for the spinners. We lost Dilshan in the second over and that wicket pushed us back. Their spinners bowled really well. Overall, it was a good all round performance by the West Indies team. They were certainly better than us today and they deserved to win the Championship.”