Beyond the boundary: ‘Lanka will miss Sanga, Mahela’

“If we talk about the two individual gentlemen, they have served Sri Lankan cricket for a long time, through all the formats. The thing about T20s is it’s a new format. So everyone has the same experience, including people (youngsters) who have played from the start with them.

“Definitely, Lankans will miss their presence in the dressing room. Among themselves, the two I guess have played in excess of 650 ODIs and a lot of Tests. It’s a fair amount of experience and they will certainly miss that. But then every good thing comes to an end. They will have to get somebody to fill in the space,” Dhoni said.

He though made it amply clear that the Indians were fully focused on the job at hand. “Well, I don’t have anything personal against them (Jayawardene and Sangakkara). They are representing their country and we are representing ours. May the better team that plays better cricket on the day should be the winner.”

Kettleborough, Gould for final

Dubai: Englishmen Ian Gould and Richard Kettleborough have been appointed on-field umpires for the World Twenty20 Championship final between India and Sri Lanka. “The men’s final will be umpired by Ian Gould and Richard Kettleborough, with Rod Tucker as third umpire and Bruce Oxenford as fourth umpire,” the ICC said in a statement.

Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will lead the playing control team for the women’s final between defending champions Australia and former winners England, while David Boon, also of the elite panel, will be the match referee for the men’s final.

The on-field umpires for the women’s final will be Aleem Dar and Marais Erasmus with Billy Bowden and S.Ravi of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires as third and fourth umpires, respectively.