Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Sunday Sep 22, 2024
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Legendary Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in conversation with Sanath Jayasuriya and rest of the Sri Lankan coaching staff
Indian team during yesterday’s training session at the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium
Sri Lanka interim coach Sanath Jayasuriya addresses the media ahead of the first ODI
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
The last time India toured Sri Lanka for a three-match ODI bilateral series in 2021, the hosts managed to pull one back and lose the series 2-1. Whether they can improve on that performance or equal it will be the big question when the two teams front-up for the first of three ODIs to be played at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium from today.
The last ODI played between these two nations at this venue in September 2023 does not hold fond memories for Sri Lanka as they were blown away for just 50 runs by a hurricane named Mohammed Siraj who picked up a career best 6/21.
That apart Sri Lanka are coming to this 50-over series on the back of a 3-0 whitewash by India in the T20Is. These results alone make India strong favourites to win the ODI series.
Sri Lanka’s had their share of bad luck and limitations coming into the series. They are struggling with injuries to their top white ball fast bowlers five of whom have been ruled out. So, they are heading into this series with an inexperienced seam attack where two of the three specialist bowlers are uncapped while the other has played only seven ODIs and taken five wickets.
Thus, the reliance will be heavily on spin with as many as four specialist spinners picked in the squad of 16 all of whom have good economy rates of around 5½ runs per over.
What we saw in the T20I series was not the bowlers who were found wanting but the batsmen playing in the middle and late orders who have been folding up without a fight in all three matches. Interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya is confident that the middle order collapses can be avoided in the 50-over series.
“I am certain they can put behind the 3-0 loss and start afresh because there are a lot of positives we took from these three matches. The first game we didn’t field well, then we started to field well right till the last game. We didn’t bowl well in the first game, then we started to improve and you can see the difference in the last game. In all three matches the top three batters batted really well. There are little things to convert to win a match. We are working on the mistakes. I don’t want to see a repetition of what happened in the T20Is.”
“In any team, although you play 6-7 batsmen, at least 2 or 3 batsmen will be scoring runs. The batsmen who are doing well on that particular day need to continue and win the match, not leave it to the next batter. It’s their day so finish it off,” said Jayasuriya who has been involved in so many finishes for his country during his time as a player.
“The first three batsmen are playing great cricket, but unfortunately the set batsmen are also getting out in the 15th or 16th overs. That cannot happen.”
“In the ODIs we need to stick to our basic plans. We have been playing with India and the two sides know each other. There are some great cricketers in the Indian side, but we must stick to our plans. We are playing in our conditions and the players need to deliver. They know what they should do, the expectations they know.”
As a morale booster ahead of the ODI series legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan addressed the players and coaching staff. Jayasuriya thanked Muralitharan for his invaluable advice and also another former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara for assisting in getting the services of Rajasthan Royals coach Zubin Barucha to do a short stint with the players and coaches.
Sri Lanka has not beaten India in a bilateral ODI series since 1997 when they swept to a 3-0 win at home with Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya being the kingpins of that victory. De Silva was the leading run getter with 212 runs (avg. 70.66) and Jayasuriya the leading all-rounder (210 runs and 5 wickets).
To bring back those glory days is what the present generation of cricket fans yearn for. When will Sri Lanka turn the corner is the million-dollar question.
Indian Captain Rohit Sharma said that they loved playing in Sri Lanka because of the support they got from the spectators.
“Sri Lanka is a big cricketing nation. I have been coming here since 2008. I know people follow their cricket very seriously like back home. They are quite passionate, and they love their team. You can see that from the crowd. Sri Lanka’s cricketing culture is massive. We love coming here and playing cricket here in front of the passionate crowd,” said Sharma.
“They want their team to win but want to enjoy good cricket as well. That is what I have experienced. They love cricket and they love to watch good cricket. That’s why it is such a nice place to play cricket. We were here during the Asia Cup. We had a fantastic tournament, and we had a lot of support. We are looking forward to the three games.”
Sharma said one of the most often asked questions is whether this series is a preparation for the Champions Trophy or World Cup.
“This is not a practice ground; it is an international game. We will keep in mind what we want to achieve, but it’s not a practice for anything. We want to get something out of the series,” said Sharma. “We want to try everything possible. When you represent the country, every international is important. We are not here to chill in Colombo. We don’t think like that. What is important is when we play a series, we want to get something out of that game. At the end of the day the standard of Indian cricket is more important. While doing that if you lose a game that’s fine. You still try to do something different, and you are not compromising on standards. That’s what happens in sports, you win, and you lose. What you get out of the game is more important.”
