Mahela Jayawardene steps down from Sri Lankan captain

Sri Lanka: Yesterday Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene decided to step down from Test and One day international cricket match captaincy. He announces his decision to the selectors at Sri Lannkan Cricket headquarters.

 

In recent ODI series with India the team suffered an upsetting 4-1 defeat at the hands of Dhoni Team. The Two match Test series in Pakistan Jayawardene will lead the sri Lankan side, after he will hand over the captaincy named by the sri Lankan selectors.

 

Ashantha de Mel the Chairman of Sri Lankan Selectors says, "To be honest, his decision came as a surprise to us. He has done a good job as captain and has an exceptional record in Test cricket. We did struggle in a few ODI games, but overall, he has a fairly good record." de Mel added "He feels he will be better off as a batsman and assured us of his fullest support for his successor."

During his three years tenure as captain, Jayawardene made the Sri Lankan team one of the most respected outfits in world cricket and hardly any Sri Lankan was penalised for breach of the code of conduct during that period.