Sangakkara announces retirement from T20 internationals after 2014 tourney

Monday, 17 March 2014 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Kumar Sangakkara has announced he will retire from Twenty20 internationals following the World T20 in Bangladesh. Sangakkara, 36, has played 50 T20Is for Sri Lanka, hitting 1311 runs at an average of 32.77 and a strike rate of 120

“Definitely, without a doubt, this is my last World T20. I won’t be playing any T20 internationals after this. It’s sad, but that’s the truth. It’s not the end of my T20 career, though. I would like to play franchise based T20s. Once your World Cup prospects are over, you should give the next crop of players an opportunity. It’s a natural progression,” Sangakkara said. A patient, accumulative batsman for much of his career, Sangakkara has been a considerably improved limited-overs batsman over the past 18 months. Though a more belligerent outlook has paid most obvious dividends in ODIs, he has also contributed heavily to Sri Lanka’s consistency in T20s. Sangakkara captained his team to the final of the 2009 World Twenty20, and had also been integral to Sri Lanka’s charge to the 2012 final – both of which were lost. Now top-ranked in the shortest format, Sangakkara hoped his team would omit the mistakes that scuppered them in previous tournaments. Mahela Jayawardene has not announced his retirement, but the World T20 is likely to see the last of him in the format as well. Sangakkara also said he would reevaluate his place in the ODI team after the 2015 World Cup, as long as his form and fitness held out until then.