Colombo: Mahela Jayawardene Monday said a “gut feeling” prompted him to quit Test cricket as he turned his attention to one last World Cup campaign after near-misses in 2007 and 2011.
The modest former Test captain, one of only five batsmen to top 11,000 runs in both Test and one-day cricket, bowed out after Sri Lanka sealed a 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan.
“Players come and go, but the game continues,” the 37-year-old said, after ending a 17-year Test career in which he became one of the great batsmen of modern times.
Jayawardene was hoisted onto his teammates’ shoulders and warmly congratulated by Sri Lanka’s president after ending his Test career at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club stadium.
It was a fitting place for his farewell after he shared in a record 624 Test partnership with Kumar Sangakkara there in 2006 and amassed 2,921 Test runs at the venue — the most by any batsman at a single ground.
Jayawardene, who retired from Twenty20 internationals after Sri Lanka became world champions in April, said he would concentrate on one-day matches until next year’s World Cup.
“I am not sure I will be selected for the World Cup, but I will focus on one-day cricket,” said Jayawardene ahead of the one-day series against Pakistan starting this week.
Jaywardene was captain when Sri Lanka made the World Cup final in 2007, losing to Australia. He also scored a century in the final of the 2011 edition won by India.
He said Sri Lanka, who won the World Cup in 1996, would prosper without him — as it had done after the Test retirement of world bowling record-holder Muttiah Muralitharan in 2010.
“When Murali retired, people said we won’t win without him,” the former captain said. “But we are still doing well. There are others who will do even better than us.”
Jayawardene added that he felt he had quit at the right time despite still showing good form with the bat.
“I took the decision to retire after a lot of serious thought,” he said. “I was fortunate to have played for 17 years so it was not an easy decision to make.
“But I think the time was right to go. It was a gut feeling and I have always gone by my gut feelings in the past.
“We do not have many Tests for a year now. I have played enough and it is time for the younger players to take over.
“I have very pleasant memories of my career. I enjoyed this phase of my life, I learnt a lot and good things entered my life. I cherish every moment of it.”
Jayawardene finished with 11,814 runs in 149 Tests with 34 centuries, but his average dropped from 50.02 to 49.84 after making four and 54 in his final Test against Pakistan.
Jayawardene said retiring one Test short of his 150th appearance did not matter to him. He also said he was not interested in becoming a coach.
“To be a coach, one needs a lot of commitment and I don’t think I have the patience for that ... But I will continue to guide young players because they are the future of the game in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has said it would be difficult to fill the shoes of Mahela Jayawardene, who ended his 17-year-long Test career here Sunday.
Sangakkara shared several big partnerships, including the world record 624-run stand against South Africa in 2006, with Jayawardene,
“We can’t expect someone to fill Mahela’s shoes in the same way. Mahela didn’t play as well as he does now from his first innings. When a new batsman comes in and we’re measuring him and comparing him, it’s not fair to compare him with Mahela. That player has a chance to join the team, play for many years, carve out a standing in the team and maybe in three or four years aim to get the kind of runs and centuries Mahela has,” Sangakkara was quoted as saying by The Island.
“You have to give someone that chance. You can’t judge players on one or two days or from five or 10 matches. Our young players are talented and they work hard. When they get that chance, they will make a name for themselves in the future,” he said.
Sangakkara admitted that it would be hard to play Test cricket without his good friend Jaywardene.
“It’s hard to say what it’s like. What it will be like the next day you play a Test match. I think it will really sink in while you’re in New Zealand. Right now, I think the guys are just coming to terms with the fact that Mahela is going to retire from Test cricket, but I think that all the emotions will all come out when we next take the field without him in the ranks. That’s when you can really explain what you feel and you can really take stock of what the team is like and the dressing room atmosphere is like without Mahela in it,” he said.
Asked about Jayawardene’s impressive Test average of 49.84, Sangakkara said: “It just depends on how you feel about it personally. People will always say whether you’re 49.85 or 50 or 60 or 70, they will always measure you in different ways. I don’t think it will ever impact what Mahela’s achieved negatively. If you want to say, ‘He’s not there in the club of 50-plus averages’, it doesn’t really matter.”
Sangakkara said that for Jayawardene it has never been about the averages.
“It’s always been about playing each game as it comes. Many years down the line, he, his children and his family can look back and be very proud of what he’s achieved — whether it’s 49.85 or 50 or 51. It doesn’t really matter,” he said.
The former Sri Lanka captain said the best parting gift for Jayawardene would have been a win and the team did it in style against Pakistan here at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
“As a team and a player we knew about Mahela’s retirement but we didn’t want to think only about that but to perform as a team that’s what we spoke about from the first day. Because if we were to give him a fitting farewell the best thing we could do is to send him off with a win. We all know about Mahela ... he will be greatly missed by the team in the future. This is what sports is like ... sportsmen come and go and others will take over,” he said.
