Dubai: The mood at the press conference room at P.Sara Oval in Colombo on Saturday must have been a sombre one - however expected the nature of the announcement might have been. Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara finally decided to end the suspense over the timing of his retirement when he said he would be quitting international cricket during the Test series against India in August.
“I have decided to call it a day...(after) the second Test of the India series,” the 37-year-old looked composed and ready for the moment on the TV screen as he told reporters after third day’s play of the ongoing second Test against Pakistan of his decision to end a 15-yer-old illustrious career.
Sangakkara said he wanted to quit all formats of the game after Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign earlier this year but after much peruasion, promised to be available for the back-to-back home series against Pakistan and India. “But at the same time I said that I would be unable to play six Test matches. I could do four and if that was okay, I will give my 100 per cent commitment to these four Test matches,” said ‘Sanga,’ who will skip the third and final test against Pakistan.
The Indians will arrive in early August to play three Tests in Sri Lanka, though the dates and the venues have not been finalised. “I wish I could keep on playing but I know when the time comes you have to go and I know this is my time,” he added.
This marks the end of the great Sanga-Mahela partnership which held sway over Sri Lankan cricket for the last one-and-a-half decade with friend and business partner Mahela Jayawardene stepping aside from the international arena after the World Cup. Cricket in the emareld isles have seen great performers like Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda De Silva and Muttiah Muralitharan, but Sangakkara’s biggest plus point had been his worldview and an ability to play one of the ambassadors of the game.
The following quote from a speech which Sangakkara delivered at the launch of a book by veteran Sri Lankan cricket writer Rex Clementine in 2011 reveals this side: “…In my view, I am just one part of Sri Lanka’s very rich cricketing legacy. I am a creation of that legacy. I am who I am today because of the great cricketers who are seated here today at this very table and in the audience, who paved the way for us to enjoy everything we have today,” he said.
- With inputs from agencies
