Jathika Hela Urumaya General Secretary, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka stated that certain politicians can learn important lessons from cricketers such as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena.

Taking part in a TV program on ‘Swarnawahini’ recently, he said the retirement of two cricketers was a good lesson to 'certain' politicians who still try to gain power, even after they were defeated in elections.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene took the decision to retire at the peaks of their careers, Ranawaka explained. “All power hungry politicians must learn from them and step down when they were defeated by people” he said.

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene retired from One Day Internationals at the end of Sri Lanka’s Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign. Jayawardene will be 38 years old this May and Sangakkara will be 38 in October. Jayawerdene has already retired from test cricket and Sangakkara announced that he will do so in August this year.