Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene says a dream century in a World Cup final was no consolation to losing the coveted trophy and he would have swapped his ton with the championship medal any day.
The Wankhede stadium track for Saturday's all-Asian World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka appears totally different from the one on which his team played New Zealand earlier in the tournament, says Sri Lanka's senior batsman Mahela Jayawardene.
Mahela Jayawardene (108) and Upul Tharanga (118 not out) hit sparkling centuries as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets to storm into the final of the tri-series in Mirpur, Bangladesh, on Friday.
International cricketers share a much better rapport with each other due to the Indian Premier League as the Twenty20 event has given them the opportunity to know every player, feels Sri Lankan vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene.
Three Sri Lankan cricketers, including former captain Mahela Jayawardene, were flown in on Wednesday to prop a side struggling to field 11 fit men in the ongoing cricket tri-series in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kuruppu said besides Jayawardene, who was part of the Sri Lankan team that played the ODI series in India last month, the other two players are uncapped wicketkeeper batsman Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal and left-handed batsman Mahela Udawatte.
Senior India batsman Sachin Tendulkar is one of the five cricketers who have been shortlisted for the first LG People's Choice Award to be given away during the ICC prize distribution function in Bengaluru on October 6.
Habibul Bashar won the toss and elected to field against Sri Lanka in the first qualifying match of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag on Thursday said it is imperative for India to get rid of prolific batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene early on Friday to stand a chance in the third cricket Test.
Images from Day 1 in the second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene warned his team-mates that their real test of character in the World Cup will begin when they take on Pakistan on February 26 in Colombo.
Mahela Jayawardene smashed an 81-ball century, the fastest by a Sri Lankan in the World Cup to set up a 210-run victory over Canada on Sunday in Group A.
Mahela Jayawardene scored the fastest century by a Sri Lankan in the history of the World Cup as the hosts crushed a hapless Canada by 210 runs to open their campaign in the mega event in grand style, in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, on Sunday.
Like Virender Sehwag on Saturday, the opening day of the World Cup, Mahela Jayawardene held centre stage when Sri Lanka took on minnows Canada in their tournament opener at home in Hambantota on Sunday.
Kumar Sangakkara has been appointed Sri Lanka captain, the selectors confirmed on Wednesday. Sangakkara, 31, the vice-captain since 2006, was the obvious heir apparent to Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped down after the recent Pakistan tour which was abandoned when gunmen attacked the team bus on the way to the stadium in Lahore.
Sri Lanka set a plethora of records during their massive first innings total of 706 for seven declared against India in the first Test in Ahmedabad. They obliterated England's record of 652 for seven declared to register the highest total against India in India.
Mahela Jayawardene scored a classy double century to give Sri Lanka complete control of the first Test against India, in Ahmedabad, on Wednesday. The former Sri Lanka captain batted through the third day to finish unbeaten on 204 from 339 deliveries, inclusive of 17 boundaries and a six as Sri Lanka amassed 591 for 5 in the first innings.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene and vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara were left out of Sri Lanka's 15-man squad on Tuesday for the Twenty20 match against India next week. Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead the side, with Chamara Kapugedera serving as his deputy.
Wayamba qualified for the Champions League following their Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament victory over Basnahira South in what could be a big boost for Sri Lankan domestic cricket. Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene will be Wayamba's main hope with the bat.
Mahela Jayawardene is only the second batsman to aggregate 300-plus runs in a single edition of ICC WT20 after fellow-teammate Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had aggregated 317 runs in the 2009 edition.
Mahela Jayawardene became the fourth man to score a century in a Twenty20 international, his score of exactly 100 helping Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe in a rain-affected game on Monday.
Images from the eighth match of the T20 World Cup between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, in Guyana on Monday
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, India skipper Virat Kohli have also opposed the idea of four-day Tests.
Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera scored undefeated fifties to lift Sri Lanka to 262 for three against New Zealand at stumps on the first day of the second Test on Wednesday. The pair shared an unbroken 147 run fourth-wicket partnership to leave Sri Lanka with a solid first innings platform on a dry pitch.
Mahela Jayawardene scored an undefeated century as Sri Lanka amassed 293 for 3 at stumps on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand on Tuesday.
Mahela Jayawardene completed his 37th Test fifty before rain washed out play on the third afternoon of the first Test to leave Sri Lanka on 165 for three on Wednesday in reply to West Indies's 580 for nine declared.
Mahela Jayawardene scored a brilliant hundred to guide Sri Lanka to a series-clinching six-wicket victory in the third one-day international against Pakistan on Monday.
Arjun Tendulkar, son of Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, is excited to join champions Mumbai Indians, saying he has always been a 'die-hard' fan of the five-time IPL winners.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene hit a classy unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka close on 305 for five on the first day of the second Test against South Africa in Colombo on Thursday. In a chanceless six hours at the crease, Jayawardene finished on 140 not out off 225 balls, including one six and 16 fours, to give Sri Lanka a solid start in their bid to level the two-match series.
Images from the tri-series final between India and Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Saturday.
Elated after winning the tri-series on Wednesday night, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said he is all the more delighted because the youngsters played a big part in the achievement.
Mahela Jayawardene (108) and Upul Tharanga (118 not out) cracked sparkling centuries as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets to storm into the final of the cricket tri-series in Mirpur, Bangladesh on Friday.
India captain Anil Kumble won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the second Test in Galle on Thursday. Both the teams have fielded unchanged sides, that played in the first Test in Colombo.
Centuries from Malinda Warnapura, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Samaraweera guided Sri Lanka to 422 for 4 on the second day of the first Test against India.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with a brisk 75, while Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera also hit half-centuries, as Sri Lanka took the honours on day one of the third and final Test against India, at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, on Tuesday.
Images from the openong day of the third and final Test betweeen India and Sri Lanka at the P Sara Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka announced an unchanged 15-man squad for the second Test against South Africa which starts in Colombo on August 11.
The wicket at the SSC ground may be a batting paradise but Sri Lanka vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene is confident of ripping apart the strong Indian batting in the second Test in Colombo.
Images from day two of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Tuesday.
Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 wickets in Test cricket when he dismissed Pragyan Ojha caught in the slip by Mahela Jayawardene. The chronology of first player to reach every important milestone in Test cricket.
"Now captaincy on the field can be a different thing. To read moments, win moments and strategize, you have to be sharp, and I think Hardik has all ingredients to be a good captain.
