Ironically, Mahela's announcement came on the 18th anniversary of Sri Lanka's heady World Cup triumph in Lahore (March 17, 1996). Sangakkara had announced his decision to quit the shortest format just before the team's departure from Colombo to take part in the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh.
Like his clean and elegant stroke-play , Sangakkara has always been an eloquent speaker and on Monday he spelt out why he decided to call time on his T20 career.
"It wasn't a difficult decision. There is no significant T20 tournament in the near future. We are scheduled to play just one or two T20 internationals before the 2015 World Cup. This is a natural progression. Whether I announce it or not, this would have been my last T20 international tournament. As a sportsman, you hope that the day when you retire never comes, but it definitely does." alised that the format was not only here to stay but also become very attractive. The ICC has also handled this tournament (WT20) brilliantly. They have built so much interest in so many different countries and that has attracted a new fan base. In 2007, in SA, we were pretty raw, but to reach the final in 2009 (England ) was great. We didn't play a good final though. In 2012, at home, again we reached the final, but let it slip. Yes, we have reached four major finals and despite playing very well, we have made mistakes to let the trophy slip out of our grasp."
Sangakkara listed his achievements in the 2009 and 2012 editions of the tournament where Sri Lanka made the final, as the highlights of his T20 career. Along with Mahela, Sangakkara too has also been part of Sri Lankan squads that lost two World Cup finals (ODI format).
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