The evergreen Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 83 as Sri Lanka opened their World T20 title defence with a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in Kolkata on Thursday (March 17).

Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka spoke after his match-winning performance.

SOUNDBITE (English): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Man of the Match, Sri Lanka(on his innings)

"I want to bat as long as possible, that's a help for the middle order, there is a lot of youngsters, they can bat around me, that's the main target. I have got the start and I have to keep batting as long as possible. I think it is much easier to chase any score if you bat, if you got the start and bat as long as possible in the crease .. the wicket is sometimes not easy for the new batsman. I want to bat as long as possible, i want to finish this game, that's the main target, I'm really happy how I batted today."

SOUNDBITE (English): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Man of the Match, Sri Lanka(on why he wants to continue playing)

"If I'm batting like this, playing like this I don't think any retirement at the moment. I want to play .. am still enjoying my cricket, I have not decided anything about retirement. You never know if I get up tomorrow morning, if I think I should retire, next day I'm going to retire..but still I'm not thinking, I'm really enjoying my cricket .. I will try to play the maximum I can give to my country, that's the main target, I'm not thinking still to retire."