Players must take on responsibility - Sangakkara

Sri Lanka's new captain Kumar Sangakkara has asked the players to do more to improve their own performances. "I will be stressing to the players the individual responsibility they must take on to improve and develop their games," Sangakkara said. "We need to make full use of the quality facilities and support staff we are fortunate enough have around us, to become better players and a stronger team."

Sangakkara, 31, who was appointed as captain on Wednesday, said his immediate focus was on the World Twenty20 series in England and building on the success of the last skipper, Mahela Jayawardene.

Sangakkara, who was the vice-captain for three years and has played 80 Tests and 246 ODIs, was always the frontrunner to succeed Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped down as captain at the end of the two-Test series in Pakistan earlier this month.

Sangakkara also hailed Muttiah Muralitharan's appointment as his deputy and said the spinner would be a guiding light for the team. "Murali's inspirational leadership and vast experience, coupled with his great integrity and complete trustworthiness, made him the ideal choice as vice-captain," Sangakkara said.

With the Pakistan series being cancelled after the terrorist attack on their team bus in Lahore, Sri Lanka do not have any international engagements till the World Twenty20 in June. But a number of players are expected to feature in the IPL next month.

The World Twenty20 gets underway on June 5, with Sri Lanka taking on Australia in their opening match on June 8 at Trent Bridge. West Indies are the other team in Group C.