'Positive' Sangakkara has 'no fears' about Lanka's future as team in 'great hands'

Sri Lanka cricket great Kumar Sangakkara has claimed that he is positive about the future of the team and believes that the team is in great hands, after the wicketkeeper batsman bowed out of ODIs following a World Cup quarterfinal defeat by South Africa.

Sangakkara top-scored for Sri Lanka with 45 on Wednesday but it wasn't enough as they were dismissed for a paltry 133 on their way to a nine-wicket loss at the Sydney Cricket Ground against South Africa.

Sangakkara, who would continue his cricket career in Test format of the game, had always planned to bring down the curtain on his one-day career following the World Cup, Sport24 reported.

However, Sangakkara's ODI campaign didn't end with a fairytale finish as he and fellow batsman Mahela Jayawardene, for whom this was a last Sri Lanka match in any format, were denied the chance to play in a third straight final. The two veterans were both runners-up at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups.

Sangakkara said that he believes that the team is in great hands, adding that skipper Angelo Mathews has been such an impressive leader right throughout. He also believes that Tillakaratne Dilshan might be playing a few more seasons for Sri Lanka, and added that they have had Lahiru Thirimanne, who's really made great strides.

The former skipper said that every single time Thirimanne plays he looks more and more impressive. He admitted that they have had a few injuries this tour, but pointed out that if one looks at the players they have, one cannot but be positive about the future.

Sangakkara claimed that if one takes some of Sri Lanka's younger players and compares them to him at the same age, he believes that these guys are quite a way ahead of where he was, and pointed out that that's quite exciting when one really look at it because that means they've got so much more left to learn and a lot more to give to Sri Lanka.

Sangakkara, who made his ODI debut in 2000, said that he has no fear about the future of Sri Lankan cricket.