Mahela Jayawardena resigns-effective after Pak tour

[Rajan]

Jayawardene to step down Cricinfo staff February 11, 2009 Mahela Jayawardene has announced that he will resign as Sri Lanka captain after the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan. The decision, announced on Wednesday, comes three days after Sri Lanka lost to India 4-1 in their ODI series at home Jayawardene, who sat out of Sri Lanka's Twenty20 international against India on Tuesday, called for a meeting with the selectors the next day and proposed that the time was right to hand over the captaincy, ensuring his successor sufficient time to build the team for the 2011 World Cup. "In the best interests of the Sri Lanka team, I have decided to stand down as Sri Lanka captain after this Pakistan tour," Jayawardene said in a statement. "This is something I have been considering for some time as it has been my long-held belief that my successor should have at least 18 months in the job to imprint his vision on the team for the 2011 World Cup. "After much thought, I have concluded that the right time has now come for fresh leadership to takeover. It was not an easy decision to make because being the Sri Lanka captain has been the source of enormous pride. I am very grateful to have been granted the honour of leading the team during the last three years. I would like to extend a special thank-you to my team-mates for making the job so easy and fulfilling, to the Sri Lanka Cricket officials and selectors who placed their faith in me, and to family, friends and fans who have provided so much support. I look forward now to extending my full support to my successor and hope to play a major part in the team's success during coming years as a batsman." =============================== May be he wants to concentrate on his batting. he was badly out of form, very often. hope he can find his best batting form immediately, now that his burden will be lesser. Sanga may be the next captain, in my opinion. he has a wise head and can handle it well.

[TaNk]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/current/story/390368.html

[bunny]

wow...totally unexpected...so many players have lost form once burdened with the captaincy load...

[Rajan]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/current/story/390368.html

thanks.

[Don Sharma]

=============================== May be he wants to concentrate on his batting. he was badly out of form, very often. hope he can find his best batting form immediately, now that his burden will be lesser. Sanga may be the next captain, in my opinion. he has a wise head and can handle it well.

Hope Sanga is the captain for betterment of SL cricket coz if not him (going by WKs cant be gud capatins theory crap) then it wud be Dilshan. Going by wat I saw of him yesterday he isnt a captain material, alright the bowlers didnt help by bowling so many wides in a T20 but then his attitude was not commendable either.

[diegovegaz]

dilshan is 32 already they might be thinking of someone young but, they don't have any captaincy material besides mahela and sangakkara

[bunny]

btw nice to see India delivering killer blows to two captains KP, Jayawardene, and a major dent to Pontings resume...lets see what happens against NZ.

[CSK Fan]

btw nice to see India delivering killer blows to two captains KP' date=' Jayawardene, and a major dent to Pontings resume...lets see what happens against NZ.[/quote'] Dont forget Malik. We softened it for SL boys. And one more series with Aus is gonna kill Ponting. Next target, Smith!

[Sachinism]

btw nice to see India delivering killer blows to two captains KP' date=' Jayawardene, and a major dent to Pontings resume...lets see what happens against NZ.[/quote'] Exactly my thoughts India making all skippers resign

[Desi Cartman]

Now I understand why Dilshan was so excited (OTT mostly) yesterday. I hope they dont make dilshan the skipper ..

[DomainK]

Pure guts for resigning immediately. He realized that his form was suffering and he immediately did what was necessary. Good character.:two_thumbs_up: And the list of players run down by this Indian side is increasing. Tait, Hogg, KP, Symo, Mahela and like bunny said, a major dent in Ponting's career which will probably eventually finish his captaincy.

[EnterTheVoid]

I never understood why this guy was so highly rated

[koksmayu]

Sangakkara tipped to take over srilanka captain Mahela Jayawardene on Wednesday decided to step down as the captain of the Sri Lankan team after the upcoming tour of Pakistan, saying that his successor needs at least 18 months to prepare the team for the 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief executive Duleep Mendis told IANS that Jayawardene officially informed his desire to quit as captain after the Test series in Pakistan. "In the best interests of the team, I have decided to stand down as the captain after the Pakistan tour," Jayawardene said Wednesday. "This is something I have been considering for some time as it has been my long-held belief that my successor should have at least 18 months in the job to imprint his vision on the team for the 2011 World Cup," the 31-year old right-hander said in a statement. According to inside sources, his vice-captain and wicket keeper-batsman, Kumar Sangakkara is likely to be the next captain. "Sangakkara is the most suitable replacement to lead the team by all means," an inside source said on condition of anonymity. "The new captain would have the daunting task of building up a formidable young team as most of the current players would be in their 40s for the next World Cup." Sri Lanka, under Jayawardene, lost the recent ODI series 1-4 against India at home, though they had won the three-match series in Pakistan. The natural stroke-maker was out of form and managed to score only one half-century during his last 15 ODI innings. "After much thought, I have concluded that it is right time for a new leader to takeover. It was not an easy decision to make because being Sri Lanka captain has been the source of enormous pride," said Jayawardene, who led the lions in 26 Tests and 97 ODIs. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka has won 15 Tests, lost seven and drew four with the winning ratio of 62.5 percent. In the 94 One-day internationals, Sri Lanka had won 54 and lost 35 while the rest ended in no-results. As captain, he averaged 64.70 in Tests with 11 centuries, and 34.22 in ODIs. The first Test in Pakistan will be played in Karachi from Feb 21-25, while the second and final match will be played in Lahore from March 1-5. Jayawardene, his deputy Kumar Sangakkara and spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan were not included in the Twenty20 side that lost to India

[sandeep]

Do NOT ever make the best player in your team Captain. Surefire recipe for failure.

[graphic23]

I never understood why this guy was so highly rated

Why do you think that he doesn't deserve it? I think Mahela is an excellent batsman and was a very very good captain for Sri Lanka.

[Ram]

Mahela joins the long list of players who have been quitting from captaincy voluntarily or have refused to take up that position, in the recent past. Dravid quit after the Eng. Tour of 2007, Vaughan did the same after last summer. Now, it J’dene’s turn. And but before that, Sachin refused to take up captaincy when it was offered to him. Younis Khan has walked away from that position more than once. Captaincy is tough, it takes a massive toll on the guy who’s doing the job.

[veer]

Pure guts for resigning immediately. He realized that his form was suffering and he immediately did what was necessary. Good character.:two_thumbs_up:

exactly!! commandable move!! :two_thumbs_up:

[The Outsider]

Mahela joins the long list of players who have been quitting from captaincy voluntarily or have refused to take up that position, in the recent past. Dravid quit after the Eng. Tour of 2007, Vaughan did the same after last summer. Now, it J’dene’s turn. And but before that, Sachin refused to take up captaincy when it was offered to him. Younis Khan has walked away from that position more than once. Captaincy is tough, it takes a massive toll on the guy who’s doing the job.

Smith has also said he does not want to captain forever. My guess is he'll quit after the 2011 WC - the pressure is immense if you read any former captain's autobiography.

[flamy]

bahahahahahahaha!! Was this the guy who got so cocky after the test series against India? PWNED

[Feed]

Did Mahela quit under pressure? Indications emanating from the island are that Jayawardene was under pressure following the unexpected 1-4 loss to India in the just-concluded ODI series. More... Did Mahela quit under pressure? Vijay Tagore Thursday, February 12, 2009 2:49 IST Email Mumbai: Sri Lanka's cricket establishment strove hard to hammer home a point that Mahela Jayawardene's decision was not under duress. The country's sports minister, Gamini Lokuge, told DNA that the government-backed interim administration of Sri Lanka Cricket had not forced the captain to step down but indications emanating from the island are that Jayawardene was under pressure following the unexpected 1-4 loss to India in the just-concluded ODI series. "Yes I've met him but we have not put pressure on Mahela. It was his decision," the sports minister said. He would not reveal if the captain was asked to explain the reasons for the humiliating loss to India. It is learnt that Jayawardene's pro-IPL postures have cost him dear. He had told the previous dispensation led by Arjuna Ranatunga that the national team would not tour England when the IPL was on. Ranatunga had lost his job because of his anti-BCCI stand but Jayawardene's popularity has also taken beating for keeping his self above the country's cricket.