'An amazing journey'
The level of affection that cricket fans in general have for legends such as Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara could best be understood if one was at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur last night. An Indo-Lankan final would ordinarily have received roughly equal support for both sides in Dhaka, where cricket fans are partial to subcontinent sides. Yesterday however, with the exception of a large Indian contingent supporting their country, it would be fair to say that neutral support was for the Lankans, and that was in no small part due to the fact that it may have been the last final the two greats were playing.
The respect they are held in was also obvious when Sangakkara, who along with Jayawardene, played his last T20I yesterday, entered the press conference after the triumph; he was greeted with rapturous applause by the assembled journalists.
"It's a feeling that I can't explain. It's the first time that I have been a part of a side that's won a World Cup; we have been disappointed four times before," an exhausted but relieved Sangakkara said. "You feel very humbled at the end because you realise how difficult it is to get here, how much support you need not just from your teammates, you need it from your family, your fans and all the support staff. It's been an amazing journey. Walking away, it's time. And walking away like this is even better."
The man who has always seemed to rise to the occasion, as he did last night with a nerveless unbeaten 35-ball 52 during the chase of 131, was asked whether the occasion had caused emotions to rise to the surface. "Not till the end. I am a great believer that if you get emotional you have to use it to your advantage. If not then forget about being emotional. When we had to get only 11 runs and I top-edged a boundary, seven to get... I knew it was only a couple of shots away and with Thisara [Perera] at the other end it was a done deal. That's when I thought I could show some emotion," Sangakkara said.
He was out of form during the entire tournament and since his century against India in the Asia Cup in February, had averaged 13.85 across formats. "I think what I did differently was I watched the ball a bit better today and I was a lot more positive. Usually when I went in earlier, two wickets down, I was too cautious. Trying to build a partnership rather than show a lot of intent and be positive and reverse pressure. That is something I changed today," he added.
For players like Jayawardene and Sangakkara, who had given cricket their all without much in terms of trophies in return, it may seem that yesterday's win redressed the balance. Sangakkara however was emphatic in denying that the game owed them anything. "I don't think the game owes any player anything. Our job is to try and play the best that we can and walk away hopefully having made a positive impact on the game. The game gives us the opportunities for us to try and take them. Today was an opportunity, we had four before this and today we took that opportunity."
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