Sri Lanka are planning to give star batsman Mahela Jayawardene a fitting
farewell by winning his remaining matches, captain Angelo Mathews said
ahead of the first Test against South Africa starting today.
On Monday, Jayawardene announced he will retire from the longest format of the game in August, after the two-Test rubber against South Africa followed by two matches against Pakistan (Aug 6-18).
The 37-year-old right hander will only be available for one-day internationals, having also retired from Twenty20 cricket in April this year.
‘We need a player like him in the team, but he (Jayawardene) has decided to say goodbye,’ Mathews said at a pre-match press conference in Galle on Tuesday.
‘If we can send him off by winning all four Tests it will be great.’
Jayawardene has been the batting mainstay for Sri Lanka since his debut against India in 1997 and has amassed 11,493 Test runs over a career spanning 145 Tests.
With 33 hundreds and 48 fifties in his kitty, he is the joint sixth-highest run-getter in Test cricket along with teammate Kumar Sangakkara (11,493).
Mathews conceded it would be tough for his team to fill the shoes of Jayawardene.
‘He’s been tremendous for us in the past 15 years or so, scoring so many runs. His contribution to the team has been unbelievable. So it’s difficult to replace him.
- See more at: http://newagebd.net/31348/sl-plan-memorable-farewell-for-mahela/#sthash.0UKK6xBW.dpuf
On Monday, Jayawardene announced he will retire from the longest format of the game in August, after the two-Test rubber against South Africa followed by two matches against Pakistan (Aug 6-18).
The 37-year-old right hander will only be available for one-day internationals, having also retired from Twenty20 cricket in April this year.
‘We need a player like him in the team, but he (Jayawardene) has decided to say goodbye,’ Mathews said at a pre-match press conference in Galle on Tuesday.
‘If we can send him off by winning all four Tests it will be great.’
Jayawardene has been the batting mainstay for Sri Lanka since his debut against India in 1997 and has amassed 11,493 Test runs over a career spanning 145 Tests.
With 33 hundreds and 48 fifties in his kitty, he is the joint sixth-highest run-getter in Test cricket along with teammate Kumar Sangakkara (11,493).
Mathews conceded it would be tough for his team to fill the shoes of Jayawardene.
‘He’s been tremendous for us in the past 15 years or so, scoring so many runs. His contribution to the team has been unbelievable. So it’s difficult to replace him.
- See more at: http://newagebd.net/31348/sl-plan-memorable-farewell-for-mahela/#sthash.0UKK6xBW.dpuf