Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara will retire from Twenty20 internationals after the ongoing World T20 in Bangladesh, the veteran left-hander told a newspaper on Sunday.
The 36-year-old said he wanted to make way for younger players in the national team, but made himself available to play the shortest format in franchise-based competitions.
“Definitely, without a doubt, this is my last World T20,” Sangakkara told the Colombo-based Sunday Island newspaper. “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, under whom Sri Lanka reached the final of the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, has played 50 T20 internationals, scoring 1,311 runs at an average of 32.77 with seven half-centuries.
He has been in prime form of late, smashing a triple-century and a hundred in the second Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong last month.
Sri Lanka, the world’s number one T20 side, are drawn with South Africa, England, New Zealand and a yet-to-be decided qualifier in the Super-10 round of the World Twenty20.