Give players little more time and they will deliver: Jayasuriya

Chief Cricket Selector Upul Tharanga and interim Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya at yesterday’s media conference 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sanath Jayasuriya was one cricketer India feared when he was at the zenith of his batting powers and now he is back again in a totally different role as interim Head Coach to try and help his country beat India in two white ball series starting with three T20 Internationals at Pallekele on Saturday.

“We have been doing all the necessary work at practices and training, hired the best coaches and Sri Lanka Cricket has provided them with most of the things, now it’s upto the players,” said Jayasuriya in his first media conference held at the Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters yesterday after assuming his new role.

“We looked at our performances at the last T20 World Cup. We had shortcomings in our batting that is why we brought in Zubin (Bharucha), the Director of performance for Rajasthan Royals. We had a special training program for seven days with Zubin. We did some sessions with him, I think it would have benefitted the players and helped them to rectify their mistakes. I don’t think we’ve had this type of preparation before in Sri Lanka. This is the first time I have been involved in this type of training program and taken part.”

“We need to strengthen our batting, to improve it only we had this 7-day program. I hope it will be of benefit in the Indian series. Our strength is in the bowling unit. It must be supported consistently by our batsmen. It’s a team game so we have to excel in all three departments if we want to win a match.”

Comparing the level of cricket played during his time and now Jayasuriya expressing his opinion said: “For the present cricketers to come to that level, we need to give a little bit of time. We have been doing all the necessary work and I hope in the next two years there will be a lot of development with these boys. For the cricket loving public it is frustrating sometimes, but be patient, we are working on it. We are doing real hard work at the moment, they will come back and do well. We have enough talent what we want is for them to go to the middle and deliver. It’s not easy, we know that. We have delivered when we were playing, the time has come, and the people are waiting for the team to perform. I hope with what we are doing at the moment they will deliver very soon.”

Jayasuriya said that the absence of world class players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja from the Indian T20I side is a loss for them.

“We must try to take maximum advantage of their absence in the T20 series. We have to do a lot right to compete with a strong team. We have to be in front in all three departments that is why we are working so hard to motivate the players and give them confidence as a team. If we can do the little things right then we can do something.”

When asked about his new role, Jayasuriya said: “I am here as a Consultant Coach. I’ve played for Sri Lanka for 22 years and I have worked under a lot of great coaches. I have seen how they coach teams. I think that knowledge is sufficient for me to carry on with my work. I will do what I am capable of with the team with the support of the support staff and the players. Any coach however good he is cannot succeed without the support of the support staff. I am here only as an interim Coach for the Indian series and the series in England until SLC finds a permanent coach.”

Chief selector Upul Tharanga said the time has come for the senior players in the side to put their hands up and deliver.

“We have players who have been in the system now for seven to eight years, the time has come for them to put their hands up and win matches,” said Tharanga. “We can’t be going on saying it’s a transition period because when the next World Cup comes around it will be the same situation as we are in now. Especially the senior players, the time has come for them to put their hands up and win matches.”

“We have spoken with Sanath and also with the senior players, they must set an example for the younger players and show them how to win a match. What is lacking is consistency. If you are a good team you should be able to win at least six to seven matches out of 10. Individually players can’t succeed every day whether it be batsmen or bowlers. The most spoken about area is that our batsmen don’t put enough runs on the board. They showed they can in the matches played before the T20 World Cup, but unfortunately they couldn’t do it in the World Cup. Going forward we’ve got to have that consistency, then only we can continue to win matches.”