Mahela decides to step down from captaincy

Mahela Jayawardene yesterday announced that he will be standing down as Sri Lanka captain after the forthcoming Test series with Pakistan.

Jayawardene having a meeting with the national selectors on Wednesday morning and proposed to them that the time was now right to handover the captaincy, ensuring his successor sufficient time to build the team for the 2011 World Cup.

During the discussion it was agreed that Jayawardene will remain in-charge for the forthcoming two-match Test series in Pakistan.

Later Jayawardene released the following statement, “In the best interests of the Sri Lanka team, I have decided to stand down as Sri Lanka captain after this Pakistan tour.

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 only decision to make because being Sri Lanka National 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 SLC officials and selectors that 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.”

Jayawardene was appointed captain in Feb. 2006. During his three-year tenure he led Sri Lanka in 26 Test matches and 97 ODI’s. He had a win ratio in Tests of 62.50% the highest of any Sri Lanka captain in history, and a win ratio of 57% in ODI’s. As captain he averaged 64.70 in Tests, scoring 11 centuries in the last 3 years.

He averaged 34.22 as ODI captain.