New Delhi: With the Olympics underway, India’s limited-overs series against Sri Lanka has done little to excite fans. Sanat JayasuriyaHowever, Sri Lanka’s interim head coach believes the series will be of “huge importance” for both sides’ young players.
The Lankan legend gave an exclusive interview to Times of India. extract…
Sri Lanka failed to fulfill their potential in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the recently concluded Caribbean T20 World Cup.
In the T20 World Cup, our batsmen got starts but failed to convert those starts into big scores. A few little things are missing. The players know this too. Batsmen need to hit the ball hard to win the game. We have a good bowling team that can win games for us.
exist Yashasvi Jaiswal, India has a left-handed top-order batsman as aggressive as you. What do you think of him?
Jaiswal is another great talent from India. He had a passion to do good and he worked hard to do that. He made sacrifices and was a focused kid and that’s why he performed. I’ve heard things about his work ethic and it’s impressive. Recently we had a meeting with Zubin (Bharucha), Director of High Performance rajasthan royalshe told us how hard Jaiswal trains.
You were a pioneer in offensive hitting, at the top of the list. How would you go against a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, who seems to outshine every batsman in contemporary cricket?
He (Bumrah) is unique. We need to respect him and his skills. On his days you need to respect him but there are times when he doesn’t measure up and that’s those days you need to take advantage. Pitchers like him rise to the top because they have a clear mind about what they want to execute.
Sri Lanka is also known for producing unique bowling balls. How do they maintain their uniqueness, given that coaches at all levels have a tendency to coach talent too much?
We always tell bowlers to keep their natural bowling style. We don’t change much, but we make sure they learn from their mistakes. For example, Pathi-rana also learned a lot while playing IPL matches for Chennai. He has improved a lot under the captaincy of (MS) Dhoni. Sri Lanka Cricket ensures that we continue to give them confidence.
(Watch live coverage of Sony Sports India’s tour of Sri Lanka)
The Lankan legend gave an exclusive interview to Times of India. extract…
Sri Lanka failed to fulfill their potential in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the recently concluded Caribbean T20 World Cup.
In the T20 World Cup, our batsmen got starts but failed to convert those starts into big scores. A few little things are missing. The players know this too. Batsmen need to hit the ball hard to win the game. We have a good bowling team that can win games for us.
exist Yashasvi Jaiswal, India has a left-handed top-order batsman as aggressive as you. What do you think of him?
Jaiswal is another great talent from India. He had a passion to do good and he worked hard to do that. He made sacrifices and was a focused kid and that’s why he performed. I’ve heard things about his work ethic and it’s impressive. Recently we had a meeting with Zubin (Bharucha), Director of High Performance rajasthan royalshe told us how hard Jaiswal trains.
You were a pioneer in offensive hitting, at the top of the list. How would you go against a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, who seems to outshine every batsman in contemporary cricket?
He (Bumrah) is unique. We need to respect him and his skills. On his days you need to respect him but there are times when he doesn’t measure up and that’s those days you need to take advantage. Pitchers like him rise to the top because they have a clear mind about what they want to execute.
Sri Lanka is also known for producing unique bowling balls. How do they maintain their uniqueness, given that coaches at all levels have a tendency to coach talent too much?
We always tell bowlers to keep their natural bowling style. We don’t change much, but we make sure they learn from their mistakes. For example, Pathi-rana also learned a lot while playing IPL matches for Chennai. He has improved a lot under the captaincy of (MS) Dhoni. Sri Lanka Cricket ensures that we continue to give them confidence.
(Watch live coverage of Sony Sports India’s tour of Sri Lanka)
