COLOMBO — Outgoing Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was named skipper of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) team of the World Twenty20 tournament Monday, one day after his side was beaten in the final by a rampant West Indies. Jayawardene announced his decision to give up the captaincy after the host lost by 36 runs Sunday, Sri Lanka's fourth successive defeat in a World Cup final, in front of a disappointed full house at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. A five-member ICC panel selected three Sri Lankan players and two each from the new champions and Australia in the 11-man team, the governing body said in a statement. Chris Gayle and all-rounder Shane Watson, the player of the tournament, were named openers, while India's Virat Kohli, Jayawardene, England's Luke Wright and explosive West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels filled up the middle-order slots. Young Australian seamer Mitchell Starc and limited-overs specialist Lasith Malinga were the two fast bowlers in the team, while experienced Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal and Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka were named as the two slow bowlers. Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was selected as the wicketkeeper, while South Africa was the only major cricketing nation without a representative in the team. Team: Chris Gayle (West Indies), Shane Watson (Australia), Virat Kohli (India), Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka - captain), Luke Wright (England), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Marlon Samuels (West Indies), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka). Jayawardene stepped down as 20-over captain Sunday saying: “It's not a surprise ... I have had a chat with the selectors before the tournament started. I was going to step down from T20 captaincy after this World Cup.” “I personally feel that for Sri Lanka going forward, we need a younger leader. I think it's a great opportunity for somebody to start in the T20 format.” Jayawardene, who played in each of the team's two 50-over World Cup final losses in 2007 and 2011 and the T20 final loss to Pakistan in 2009, said he would continue to lead the team in the other two formats. “I haven't stepped down from other formats. I took over (to lead) till the Australian tour (in December),” he said. “I will assess what I want to do after that. But this I am going to step down, they will make a call on who is going to lead the national team in T20.” Jayawardene said Sri Lanka would have to figure out how to break the World Cup final jinx. “It hurts a lot, because you want to do something special, not just personally, but for the public as well,” the stylish right-handed batsman said. “We've been playing really good cricket but we haven't been able to cross that hurdle. So it hurts as a player, as a cricketer, as an individual... “But we just need to move on, try, and see how well we can get over this and get back on and keep fighting again.” Jayawardene admitted after the final his team choked in the final. “When we were put under pressure, we did not react well,” Jayawardene said. “As a team we gave everything we had,” he said. “We just did not execute a good game plan and we were not ruthless enough. We are very disappointed that we could not give the fans what they wanted, and that hurts a lot. “We need to sit together, have a chat on what went wrong and then move on.” — Agencies
