COLOMBO, Oct 8: Mahela Jayawardene stepped down as Sri Lanka’s 20-over captain after failing to lead his team to their maiden World Twenty20 title on Sunday.

Hosts Sri Lanka lost to West Indies by 36 runs for their fourth successive defeat in World Cup finals in front of a full house at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

“It’s not a surprise... I have had a chat with the selectors before the tournament started. I was going to step down from T20 captaincy after this World Cup,” Jayawardene told reporters.

“I personally feel that for Sri Lanka going forward, we need a younger leader. I think it’s a great opportunity for somebody to start in the T20 format.

“So I have spoken to the selectors. They were quite happy with the choice I have made.”

Jayawardene, who played in each of the team’s two 50-over World Cup final losses in 2007 and 2011 and the T20 final loss to Pakistan in 2009, said he would continue to lead the team in the other two formats.

“I haven’t stepped down from other formats. I took over [to lead] till the Australian tour [in December],” he said.

“I will assess what I want to do after that. But this I am going to step down, they will make a call on who is going to lead the national team in T20.”

Jayawardene said Sri Lanka would have to figure out how to break the major final jinx.

“It hurts a lot, because you want to do something special, not just personally, but for the public as well,” the stylish right-handed batsman said.

“We’ve been playing really good cricket but we haven’t been able to cross that hurdle. So it hurts as a player, as a cricketer, as an individual...

“But we just need to move on, try, and see how well we can get over this and get back on and keep fighting again.”

Jayawardene said the all-round effort by Marlon Samuels, who smashed 78 off 56 balls and took 1-15 from four steady overs of off-spin, took the game away from Sri Lanka.

“In the pressure situations we could not control the match,” said Jayawardene. “Samuels batted really well and he took it away from us a little bit.

“We did not react well when we were put under pressure. When those small mistakes add up, that’s where you lose a match like a final, and that’s what happened to us.

“But all credit to the West Indies. They played a good game of cricket in a big final and we did not.”

Sri Lanka are due to host New Zealand in November, before touring Australia in December-January.—Agencies