Vandersay on his comeback trail

Sri Lanka’s Jeffrey Vandersay with the Player of the Match award in the second ODI against India

• Destructive spell of leg-spin bowling that destroyed India’s batting

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay first broke into the Sri Lanka team at the age of 25 in 2015 when he debuted in the T20I against Pakistan and five months later in the ODI against New Zealand.

Since then and now his international career has been rather rickety being in and out of white ball teams so that he has appeared in only 22 ODIs and 14 T20Is in a period spanning nine years.

When Wanindu Hasaranga, suffered a left hamstring injury in the first ODI against India and was ruled out of for the rest of the series, Vandersay got another opportunity to present his credentials when he was recalled into the national side at the age of 34 for the second ODI and what a display he put up.

Vandersay brought the number one ranked ODI side to its knees with an exceptional piece of leg-spin bowling on a slow surface that offered turn and bounce to give Sri Lanka their first taste of success against India in eight matches. Vandersay’s career best figures of 6/33 saw India fall short by 32 runs as they folded up for 208.

“I was feeling good in the past couple of months. I have been bowling well and I had the confidence to come and perform. That doesn’t say that I didn’t have any pressure coming after a seven-month lay-off,” said Vandersay after receiving the Player of the Match award. “When a player like Wanindu Hasaranga goes out there are a lot of expectations and the pressure of me coming back after a lay-off, it is not easy, I have to be mentally strong which I have shown right throughout my career.”

“I am happy the captain, selectors and the team backed me and had faith in me. I was really happy to represent my nation again. It’s an honour, I am really proud of what I did. I love the game of cricket, it’s my job. Along with it comes the responsibility and expectations of the nation to perform as well as Wanindu who is the number 1 white ball spinner in Sri Lanka. I am really happy with my performance.”

“I’ve always had the confidence that I could perform but I didn’t expect it to be like this. I only thought of bowling well. There is a process and I bowled according to it, and I achieved the results,” he said.

Vandersay said that having defended 230 in the first ODI and tied the match, they were confident of defending 241.

“Kamindu’s (Mendis) brilliant catch at slip to get rid of Shubman Gill was the turning point. Gill was going nicely, and it was a blinder of a chance that turned around everything.”    

“One thing we always said was that the skill set with our spinners was really good. Since we defended 230 in that tied game, we were in a good space. The team atmosphere was good, and the team talk was that we could defend it. There was confidence.”

Explaining the incident that took place in the middle when Virat Kohli was batting, Vandersay said, “Everyone knows that Virat Kohli is a prize wicket, we would always want to get his wicket no matter what. We have seen how destructive he is on the field. When he is in the middle a game is not over. We had to get his wicket. Initially we thought that he made the call because it was sliding down but once we saw on the giant screen and the DRS Snicko showing the spike, everyone really got animated at the time. Emotions were shown but it was not harmful.”

Kohli (11) adjudged lbw by the umpire, reviewed the decision and survived when Ultra edge showed a spike when the ball was close to the bat. It was a decision which the Sri Lankans could not believe and showed their displeasure and disappointment.

Following a tie in the first ODI, Sri Lanka have a great chance of beating India for the first time and winning an ODI series since 1997 having taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with one game to play on Wednesday.

Vandersay with his Captain Charith Asalanka (3/20) brought about the destruction of India’s innings will have a role to play if they are to win the series.

“This performance cannot be just a one-off, I have to keep pushing. I can’t be complacent but keep pushing myself to do better and produce these results day in and day out whenever it is required from me,” said Vandersay. “For now, it’s in the past. I can’t dwell on it. Cricket is a funny game. It’s a result that happened and I have got to move on and do well the next opportunity I get.”