Sourav Ganguly praises Lasith Malinga after Sri Lanka’s ICC World T20 2014 triumph

Lasith Malinga (above) acted as stand-in captain for Sri Lanka after Dinesh Chandimal had dropped himself out from the XI due to poor form © Getty Images

Apr 8, 2014

Sourav Ganguly praised Lasith Malinga after he led Sri Lanka to the ICC World T20 2014 title. Malinga acted as stand-in captain as Sri Lanka beat India in the final on April 6. Ganguly also said that Sri Lankan legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara would have been relied to finally win an ICC event in their careers.

Sri Lanka beat India by six wickets to win the 2014 edition after two previous losses in the 2009 and 2012 World T20 finals. Sri Lanka have also lost the last two 50-over World Cup [2007 and 2011] finals as well. Jayawardene and Sangakkara have been involved in all those defeats.

“After five tries at winning a big final, it must have been a night to remember for Sri Lanka. Mahela and Sangakkara have been legends of Sri Lankan cricket and it would have been a huge hole in their careers had they not won an ICC world tournament,” wrote former India captain Ganguly in his column for the Hindustan Times.

“Sunday night, they would have had a time which will remain as golden memories. The situations which occurred during those 40 overs can change the perspective of players to come.”