15 July 2014

Jayawardene retired from Test Cricket

Mahela Jayawardene, the former skipper of Sri Lankan cricket team, announced his retirement from Test cricket on 14 July 2014. He will retire from Test Cricket after the home series against Pakistan in August 2014. 

The 37-year-old, Lankan batsman, will play two Tests against South Africa on 16 July and 24 July 2014, followed by a two-match series against Pakistan in August 2014. 

He communicated his written decision to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Ashley De Silva. However, Jayawardene will represent the country in the one-day format.

The decision to continue in the one-day format is a hint that he will be playing for the nation during the Cricket World Cup 2015 that will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Earlier in April 2014, he announced his retirement from the T20 format of the game after Sri Lanka won the ICC World T20 Cup for the first time defeating India.

About Jayawardene and his Test career
• Jayawardene played his Test debut against India in 1997
• Till date he has played 145 Tests scoring 11493 runs with 33 centuries and 48 fifties
• In 2006, he made the highest ever test-score of 374 by any Sri Lankan cricketer
• He is also the first player in the history of Sri Lankan cricket to score over 10000 Test runs
• In 2006, Jayawardene was named by the International Cricket Council as the best international captain of the year
• He was nominated in 2007 as the best Test cricket player of the year