In appreciation of all the tributes sent by fans to www.thepapare.com  (Tributes page), our superheroes Mahela and Kumar have dedicated the following messages to their people.

“Ah, lots of pressure on the skippy eh! He let his whole country down, you can tell. The weight of all these expectations fellas! (sic) 42 million supporters here depending on…Shaun”

Whether you're Mahela Jayawardene or Kumar Sangakkara, you wake up each day perhaps a little more creakily than yesterday, now that you're 37. You feel a twinge, rub a sore spot and wonder sleepily how Tillekeratne Dilshan does it; he's 38.

Seventeen years is a long time in Test Cricket. Lankan cricket fans grew up and grew old with Mahela. As he retires it feels like an end of a chapter in life for some of them.

It was an overwhelming moment for every cricket loving fan in Sri Lanka, though it was an outcome which many expected sooner or later, when Mahela Jayawardane (Maiya) and Kumar Sangakkara (Sanga) confirmed their retirement from ODI Cricket at the end of the upcoming World cup in Australia and New Zealand.

"Balanced yet intense, ruthless in his need to succeed, always contributing to his team's cause, he is among the finest cricketers Sri Lanka has produced," the late Peter Roebuck, one of the world's greatest cricket writers, once wrote about Kumar Sangakkara.

A man turns to his mates, clenching his fists and showing his guns in the successful warrior pose. His mate runs up and jumps on him, half hugging, half choking as he climbs up his back.

The venue was Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. The match was the final of the 2011 ICC World Cup between India and Sri Lanka. India were keeping the Lankans in check and Tillakaratne Dilshan had just fallen to Harbhajan Singh.

On a Sunday afternoon at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Colombo, Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene scripted a fine Test farewell for himself.

A flamboyant batsman has just hit a double century against a resurgent New Zealand in Wellington.

Seventeen years and 149 Tests down, Mahela Jayawardene’s Test career has ended. Unlike many other legends of similar longevity and stature, Jayawardene ends not far off his best, the ‘why’ definitely more valid than ‘why not’.

Kumar Sangakkara: Not Just A Great Sportsman But An Inspiring Gentleman.