Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar led the cricketing world in applauding Sri Lankan veterans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who bowed out of ODIs today after their team’s World Cup quarterfinal loss to South Africa.

Both Jayawardene and Sangakkara had announced that the World Cup would be their final ODI assignment. 

Much to the dismay of the Lankan fans, it ended on a disappointing note for the much celebrated duo with Sri Lanka losing by nine wickets to the South Africans.

Sachin Tendulkar applauded the two Srilankan cricketers for being an integral part of the team, tweeting:

Other prominent tributes came from former South Africa captain Graeme Smith and current Australian all-rounder Shane Watson:

Former former Sri-Lanka coach Dav Whatmore applauded the retiring cricketers on their superb careers:

Sangakkara played a whopping 404 ODIs, scoring 14,234 runs at an average of 41.98. Jayawardene, on the other hand, amassed 12,650 runs from 448 ODIs at an average of 33.37.