Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara has spoken about the disappointment of losing four World Cup finals in the space of five years and then the ultimate joy when the national cricket team eventually won a world title in 2014.
Sri Lanka had lost four World Cup finals in the space of five years and Sanga captained two of those events – 2009 World T-20 final to Pakistan at Lord’s and 2011 World Cup final to India in Bombay. Sri Lanka had played exceptionally well in all four competitions but had faulted in the final hurdle. Most of those finals were closely fought affairs as well.
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“The immediate thing that crosses your mind is that you have got to wait for four more years to play a final. You have done so much of hard work and you have got to do it all over again. It’s disappointing but you can’t simply give in. You have got rise up, train harder, face challenges and move on. If you do that, you get a chance to taste victory,” Sanga said in a video interaction with The Papare.com.
Sanga had announced that he would be quitting T-20 cricket after the World T-20 in Bangladesh so effectively the final against India in Dhaka was going to be his last game. He made it a memorable one as well with a match winning half-century as Sri Lanka ended their disastrous run in World Cup finals having lost four straight big games.
“When we won the T-20 World Cup that gave us an assurance that if we keep working hard and believe in ourselves, the results will be there. That’s the message for all sportsmen, never give up and keep chasing your dreams.
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Sri Lanka’s highest run getter in both Test and ODI cricket, Sangakkara retired from international cricket in 2015 but played three seasons of County Cricket with resounding success. The impact that he had for Surrey from 2015 to 2017 was such that in a recent BBC poll he was rated as county’s greatest cricketer ahead of several other international stars.
Sangakkara is also the current President of Marylebone Cricket, the guardians of the game’s laws.
