NEW DELHI: With the Olympics going on the India-Sri Lanka limited-overs series has hardly raised the fervour among fans. Sanath Jayasuriyathe interim head coach of Sri Lanka, however, believes the series holds “massive importance” for young players from both sides.
The Lankan leg -end spoke to TOI exclusively. Excerpts…
Sri Lanka couldn’t perform to their potential in the 2023 ODI World Cup and also the recentlyconcluded T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
In the T20 World Cup, our batters were getting starts but weren’t able to convert the starts into big scores. There were some little things missing. The players also know that. Batters need to fire and fire big to win a match. We have a good bowling side which can win us games.
In Yashasvi JaiswalIndia has a left-handed, toporder batsman in the aggressive mould just like you. What’s your take on him?
Jaiswal is another great talent from India. He has the passion to do well, and to do that he has been working very hard. He has made sacrifices and is a dedicated kid, that’s why he is performing. I have heard about his work ethic, and that’s quite impressive. Recently, we had a session with Zubin (Bharucha), the director of high performance at Rajasthan Royals, and he told us how hard Jaiswal trains.
You were a pioneer in terms of aggressive batting at the top of the order. How would you’ve countered a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, who seems to get the better of every batsman in contemporary cricket?
He (Bumrah) is unique. We need to re -spect him and his skills. On his day, you’ll need to respect him, but then there are days when he is not up to the mark, it’s on those days you need to capitalise. Bowlers like him are on top because they’ve clear thinking in what they want to execute.
Sri Lanka too is known to produce unique bowlers. How do they to retain their uniqueness, considering there is a tendency among coaches at different levels to coach a talent too much?
We always tell the bowlers to keep their natural way of bowling. We don’t change much, but we make sure that they learn from their mistakes. Pathi -rana, for example, has also learnt a lot while playing for Chennai in the IPL. He has improved a lot under (MS) Dhoni’s captaincy. Sri Lanka Cricket makes sure that we continue giving them confidence.
(Watch the live coverage of India tour of Sri Lanka live on Sony Sports)
The Lankan leg -end spoke to TOI exclusively. Excerpts…
Sri Lanka couldn’t perform to their potential in the 2023 ODI World Cup and also the recentlyconcluded T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
In the T20 World Cup, our batters were getting starts but weren’t able to convert the starts into big scores. There were some little things missing. The players also know that. Batters need to fire and fire big to win a match. We have a good bowling side which can win us games.
In Yashasvi JaiswalIndia has a left-handed, toporder batsman in the aggressive mould just like you. What’s your take on him?
Jaiswal is another great talent from India. He has the passion to do well, and to do that he has been working very hard. He has made sacrifices and is a dedicated kid, that’s why he is performing. I have heard about his work ethic, and that’s quite impressive. Recently, we had a session with Zubin (Bharucha), the director of high performance at Rajasthan Royals, and he told us how hard Jaiswal trains.
You were a pioneer in terms of aggressive batting at the top of the order. How would you’ve countered a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, who seems to get the better of every batsman in contemporary cricket?
He (Bumrah) is unique. We need to re -spect him and his skills. On his day, you’ll need to respect him, but then there are days when he is not up to the mark, it’s on those days you need to capitalise. Bowlers like him are on top because they’ve clear thinking in what they want to execute.
Sri Lanka too is known to produce unique bowlers. How do they to retain their uniqueness, considering there is a tendency among coaches at different levels to coach a talent too much?
We always tell the bowlers to keep their natural way of bowling. We don’t change much, but we make sure that they learn from their mistakes. Pathi -rana, for example, has also learnt a lot while playing for Chennai in the IPL. He has improved a lot under (MS) Dhoni’s captaincy. Sri Lanka Cricket makes sure that we continue giving them confidence.
(Watch the live coverage of India tour of Sri Lanka live on Sony Sports)
