Muralitharan considers Jayawardene among the best players that Sri Lanka has ever produced. "He is one of the greatest to have played for Sri Lanka. He is in that group with Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya, who have all contributed so much to Sri Lankan cricket," he said.
Jayawardene's long quest for an ICC world title ended when Sri Lanka won the World Twenty20 earlier this year in Bangladesh after two previous final appearances. But the coveted World Cup title has so far evaded Jayawardene, who made his international debut the year after Sri Lanka won the prestigious tournament for the only time. He has been part of two teams that lost the final.
Jayawardene was the captain when Sri Lanka lost to Australia in fading light in the West Indies in 2007, and in 2011 he was again on the losing side, against India, despite scoring a century himself.
"I would swap that century any day for a championship medal," Jayawardene said following the 2011 final at Wankhede Stadium. And that's his biggest motivation to continue playing in the limited-overs format, at least until March next year.
Jayawardene will devote the next six months to one-day cricket, with the aim of breaking his personal drought when the World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand early in 2015.
