Jayawardene named World Cup captain

Mahela Jayawardene will continue to lead Sri Lanka despite the Champions Trophy exit © Getty Images

Mahela Jayawardene will continue to lead Sri Lanka till the end of next year's World Cup in West Indies. Ashantha de Mel, the chairman of selectors, said that the decision to hand Jayawardene an extended run was based on merit, after being named Captain of the Year and the captain of the World ODI Team of the Year at the ICC Awards in Mumbai last week.

"Mahela has done a decent job since taking over from Marvan Atapattu and he will continue till the World Cup," De Mel told AFP. "We've been working towards the World Cup and we want to make sure that Mahela feels comfortable ahead of the tournament which is not too far away."

Sri Lanka were one of the favourites to win the Champions Trophy in India but failed to reach the semi-finals. After comprehensive victories in the qualifying matches, Sri Lanka were beaten by Pakistan and South Africa in the group stage, but the selectors have decided to persist with Jayawardene with a short tour of New Zealand starting in December.

Jayawardene was made the stand-in captain after Atapattu pulled out of the Bangladesh tour in March owing to a recurring back injury. Jayawardene led the side creditably in England, squaring the Tests 1-1 and sweeping the one-day series 5-0. The tour marked a revival in Sri Lanka's fortunes after the team endured a slump during the home series against Pakistan

Jayawardene has been in good form with the bat since taking over the captaincy, averaging nearly 63 in nine Tests with three centuries. He scored a massive 374 against South Africa in Colombo, the fourth highest individual score in Tests. In one-dayers, Jayawardene averages over 48 in his last 20 matches as captain, scoring back-to-back tons in England.