Jayawardene to retire from international T20s after T20 World Cup

Star Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene has reportedly announced that he would retire from international Twenty20 cricket after the conclusion of the World T20 in Bangladesh.

Jayawardene's announcement came days after his teammate Kumar Sangakkara made a similar announcement.

According to Sport24, Jayawardene, who has appeared in all four T20 World Cups and captained the side which lost in the final of the last tournament, sad in an ICC statement that he had taken the decision as he knew this tournament would be his last World Cup and he did not want to block a younger player.

The report mentioned that Jayawardene, who has played 49 T20 internationals and scored a record 1,335 runs for Sri Lanka, is the highest scorer in Test match cricket among current players and is also the seventh-highest scorer in the history of one-day cricket

Meanwhile, Sangakkara explained on his decision to quit the shortest form of the international game after the tournament, saying that it should not be a surprise as it is a natural progression.

Sri Lanka, the world's number one T20 side, are the favourites in Bangladesh, especially after their recent victory in the Asia Cup and they have been drawn against England, New Zealand and South Africa who are their first opponents in the tournament on Saturday in Chittagong, the report added.