SPORTS

Mahela says World Cup final was high point
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) — Departing Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene Saturday said the pinnacle of his tenure was lifting his team to the World Cup final in the Caribbean two years ago.
The 31-year-old relinquishes captaincy after the second and final Test against Pakistan starting here from Sunday, ending a three-year stint during which Sri Lanka finished runners-up to Australia in the 2007 World Cup.
"It is difficult to put my finger on it but playing the World Cup final was the big plus point in my career, it was a great honour," said Jayawardene of the match, in which Sri Lanka lost to defending champions Australia by 53 runs.
Jayawardene, who took over from Marvan Atapattu in 2006, has led Sri Lanka in 27 Tests, winning 15 and losing seven. The remaining five Tests ended in draw.
His team drew 1-1 against England in 2006. He led Sri Lanka to their first-ever Test win in the West Indies before squaring the two-Test series 1-1 last year.
The inspirational Jayawardene also led Sri Lanka in 94 one-day internationals with a win-loss record of 54-35. The remaining five matches ended in no results.
Jayawardene said a captain is as good as his team.
"When you are doing well as a team, you always enjoy the captaincy and when you are not doing well the captain goes through that difficult time, you are as good as your team.
"When the team is in good confidence then the captain's job becomes much easier," said Jayawardene, who described a one-day series defeat against India earlier this month as one of his low points.
"Losing one-dayers to India (4-1) and England (3-2 in October 2007) hurt because they were the home series. Otherwise I have enjoyed the captaincy thoroughly and it has been a great honour for me."
Jayawardene termed it a final decision, saying there were enough candidates to take the reins from him.
"No one took the life away from me in the first place. It was my decision (to step down) which I took and at the right time. I am sure that we have so many guys who could lead the side in the future.
"My duty is to help the new captain achieve his goals. I hope this kind of opportunity will not come my way again because we have good leaders who can take us to higher levels."
Wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara is seen as the potential replacement for Jayawardene.
Sri Lanka's next assignment is Twenty20 World Cup to be held in England in June before they host Pakistan for a three-Test and five one-day match series in July-August.


Akram hails Murali for
breaking his record
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