Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene Monday hit back at suggestions his team have “choked” in major finals — and said he’d rather be a runner-up than an also-ran. Jayawardene, speaking on the eve of the hosts’ World Twenty20 opener against Zimbabwe, said it was tribute to Sri Lanka that they had reached three global title matches since winning the 1996 one-day World Cup.
“A lot of people have asked us why we have choked in the finals,” he said on Monday. “I’d rather be in that situation than being knocked out in earlier rounds.
“So that means we are doing something pretty good in these big tournaments and we hope to continue that in World Twenty20.”
Sri Lanka lost to Australia and then India in the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals, and missed out on the World Twenty20 title when they were beaten by Pakistan in the 2009 title match at Lord’s.
Jayawardene admitted that home expectations were now sky-high that Sri Lanka were about to end their 16-year hunt for a second world title, with the benefit of home advantage and a balanced team.
“We are one of the favorites but we are part of the pack that, you know, if we get into a good momentum we could go all the way. We cannot put the hype down in the sense that we are playing at home,” he said.
“Sri Lanka is a cricket-crazy country and the expectations would be high. People would back us so we need to enjoy that,” Jayawardene added.
