With the Olympics happening, not many people have been talking about the India-Sri Lanka limited-overs series. On the other hand, Sanath Jayasuriya, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s who is the interim head coach of Sri Lanka has a different opinion as he believes that this series carries massive importance for young players from both sides. The Lankan legend spoke to Parami News on a number of topical subjects related to the two teams in this exclusive interview.
What are your thoughts on how they will play?
The team is so good. India plays brilliantly – IPL, T20 World Cup. When one fails, another takes up the initiative. We still have a tough job to do but I am confident our players can win this series.
Sri Lanka couldn’t achieve what was expected of them during 2023 ODI World Cup and also during recently concluded T20 World Cup in Caribbean. Why hasn’t their immense potential translated into desired results?
In T20 world cup our batters were in good form; they were getting starts but weren’t able to convert the starts into big scores. There were some minor details missing out there. And we know that too as well as these players do now. Batsmen must bat and make runs if they want to win games – unfortunately that did not happen. In this series (against India) when our batters get starts, they need to convert those starts into big scores because we have a good bowling side which can win us games.
India has Yashasvi Jaiswal’s, a left-handed top-order batsman with an aggressive approach similar to yours. Give us your assessment of him and his progress.
Jaiswal is yet another Indian star in the making. He wants it so badly that he had no choice but work very hard for it; he’s paid dearly for his dreams and hence performs better than anyone else does at his age group level.. I have heard about his work ethic, it is quite commendable. Recently we had a session with Zubin (Bharucha), the director of high performance at Rajasthan Royals, and he told us how hard Jaiswal’s trains.
At the top of the order you were one of the pioneers in terms aggressive batting. How would you have faced Jasprit Bumrah who seems to have gotten better off nearly every batsman in contemporary cricket?
He indeed is a special bowler. We must respect him not only as an individual but also for his skills. Sometimes he has to be respected on his day but there are days where he is not at his best and these are the days where you capitalize against him. The clarity of thought by such bowlers make them to always stay on top.?
Unique bowlers are produce by Sri Lanka as well. Even the present team has got Pathirana, Theekshana, Hasaranga only… how do these Sri Lankan bowlers still sustain their distinctiveness in a situation where there is an inclination among coaches at different levels to over coach talent?
We always ask our bowlers to retain their style of bowling. We don’t change much, but we ensure that they learn from mistakes. For instance, Pathirana has also learned a lot during his time with Chennai (Chennai Super Kings) in the IPL. He has improved so much under (MS) Dhoni’s captaincy. In addition, Sri Lanka Cricket works with them quite often too. We just see to it that we go on giving them confidence.
There have been changes at the management level for India with Gautam Gambhir taking over as head coach. Suryakumar Yadav becoming T20 captain and Shubman Gill being appoint as vice-captain for both limited over formats. How does this sit with you?
All those changes have bee made keeping the future in mind. They (India) are backing their players up and then giving them opportunity with responsibility attached to it. This is what makes progress happen.
Watch Live Coverage of India tour of Sri Lanka – 7 PM onwards starting July 27th 2024 on Sony Sports Ten 5 & Sony Sports Ten 1 in English; Sony Sports Ten 3 in Hindi. Sony Sports Network is Official Broadcaster for India’s Tour of Sri Lanka in India – Comprising of 3 T20Is & 3 ODIs
