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Kumar has the mind of a captain - Sanath Jayasuriya | Interview

Kumar has the mind of a captain & Ajantha Mendis is one of the great spinners, says the Senior-most pro Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya is less than three weeks short of his 40th birthday, but age isn’t weighing him down.

If anything, the oldest cricketer from a Test-playing nation (Canada’s Sunil Dhaniram is already 40-plus) showed yet again, against the West Indies on Wednesday, that he’s as hungry as ever.

Jayasuriya interacted with the media after his mind-blowing 81 (off only 47 balls). Afterwards, he briefly spoke to us separately.

The following are excerpts

Age not being a factor for him

(Laughs) You don’t have to worry about age as long as you’re playing well and performing... We’ve got good physios and trainers as part of the support staff.

Realisation that Wednesday was his day

When I played the cover drive in the second over... Was a perfect shot... If the ball is in my area or my zone, then I’ll hit it hard.

Going after Fidel Edwards

He’s their key bowler, but had an off day.

Seeming to enjoy T20

I am, yes... It suits my natural game, which is to play attacking cricket... Of course, one must be fit to keep pace with the younger players.

Whether he would advise his Mumbai Indians’ captain Sachin Tendulkar to take back his retirement from T20 Internationals

It’s not for me to advise Sachin.

Missing out on a hundred

Definitely a bit disappointing, but I was looking at more runs for Sri Lanka not so much at a possible hundred... But, yes, when a batsman is set he should bat for the full 20 overs...

Tillekaratne Dilshan as an opening partner

Oh, he’s playing really well... I didn’t have to do anything different, just play my natural game. I can’t improvise like him, though.

Whether his 124-run partnership (12.3 overs only) with Dilshan reminded him of his sensational association with Romesh Kaluwitharana in the mid-Nineties

Well, yes... One always remembers those days... One looks to continue batting in the same manner.

Impact made by Ajantha Mendis

There are times when even we can’t read him at nets... He’s one of the great spinners.

Spinners striking it rich in the World T20

I think the success of our spinners is due to the variations they possess... Not that the wickets have been turning a lot.

Opening the bowling against the West Indies

We try to do different things... The call was the captain’s.

The IPL experience

Those who played have gained... Unfortunately, the Mumbai Indians didn’t do well... The top-order didn’t perform consistently and we’ll have to improve in the next edition.

Looking ahead to the Super Eight matches

We’ll be taking it match by match... For now, our focus is on Friday, when we face Pakistan (at Lord’s)... We aren’t looking too far ahead... We were in a tough group, but showed character by winning both the qualifying matches.

Finally, on Sri Lanka’s new captain, Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar’s good... He has the mind of a captain.

Source : The Telegraph

'Age does not worry me' - Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya: "As long as I am playing well and performing that's the only thing that I worry about."

He's nearing 40, but Sanath Jayasuriya, who says age does not worry him, seems to be enjoying the shortest version of cricket. Today, he dominated Trent Bridge, smacking 81 off 47 balls to lead Sri Lanka to a 15-run win over West Indies.

The win ensured a 100% record for Sri Lanka in Group C, the 'group of death', and though it came in an inconsequential match, will help Sri Lanka - who fielded an unchanged side from their previous win against Australia - continue the momentum into the Super Eights.

Jayasuriya, along with Tillakaratne Dilshan - whom he compared to Romesh Kaluwitharana, his comrade in arms in the World Cup-winning team of 1996 - launched Sri Lanka's innings in imposing fashion with an opening partnership of 124. His confident strokeplay ensured the run-rate never dropped below ten. "When I drove through extra cover in the second over, I knew it was a perfect shot and that I was hitting the ball really well," Jayasuriya said. "I needed to continue so I just watched the ball and if it was pitched in my zone, I always hit it hard. Everything was working well for me today. As long as I am playing well and performing that's the only thing that I worry about, age does not worry me."

Jayasuriya regretted missing out on scoring Sri Lanka's first Twenty20 international century, but said he was focused on getting more runs on the board. "It's a bit disappointing because whoever is set is expected to bat the full 20 overs, but at the end of the day as a player and as a team we wanted to win the game."

He praised Dilshan, who at times outshone him in strokeplay as he completed his second fifty of the tournament. "Dilshan is playing really well and you get a lot of confidence when you are at the other end with him," Jayasuriya said. "Some of the shots Dilshan plays are unbelievable, especially the flick shot over the wicketkeeper's head. I can't improvise the way he does and I haven't even thought of it. It is a bit dangerous but Dilshan is brave enough to play it. The way he played allowed me to play my natural game. Opening with him reminded me of the days when I had Kaluwitharana as my partner when we won the World Cup."

With Sri Lanka in the Super Eights, Jayasuriya said they were taking one match at a time. Their next opponents are Pakistan on Friday and he is confident that with the variety they have in their bowling line-up they stand a good chance in the tournament.

Jayasuriya playing natural game

Sanath Jayasuriya admitted the Twenty20 format suits his game despite his advancing years after belting 81 against West Indies as Sri Lanka won their final group match.

The opening batsman turns 40 this week but looked as good as ever as he cracked 10 fours and three sixes in his side's 192 for five.

The veteran has been a lynchpin for his side for almost two decades and he has always thrived in limited overs cricket, and remains focused on what he does best.

"I'm doing perfectly well and that's the only thing for me. There is no worry about my age, you just go out and play," he said. "It suits me like that because my natural game is attacking cricket.

"I enjoy these Twenty20 games and it's been really good to play in them. You need to be really fit and work very hard on your game so at the end of my career I am very happy to have the opportunity.

"It's really hard work though and it's tough to keep up with these youngsters!"

Jayasuriya paid tribute to opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan, who made 74 in 47 balls courtesy of a series of improvised sweeps and paddles.

"Dilshan has been playing really, really well," he said. "It shows good confidence when you can play that way. With the way he is playing, I know I can just play my game.

"That's a big advantage to us. When you see him playing some of those shots I can't even believe it standing at the other end. It's nice to see him doing that and I get confidence from it.

"I can't play shots that are improvised that much though; I don't even think about it.

"When I got out I thought about playing some right-handed shots but I can't do that, that is for Dilshan only. He never fears playing his own shots."

Super Sanath Jayasuriya strikes form, Lanka beat Windies by 15 runs

Sanath Jayasuriya may be turning 40 at the end of the month but his demolition of the West Indian attack, which paved the way for Sri Lanka's 15-run victory at Trent Bridge, was as violent as any innings played during his heydays. In the absence of Chris Gayle, Jayasuriya ensured that the crowd had its fill of massive hits, blitzing 81 off only 47 balls, and his occupation of centre stage was so complete that Tillakaratne Dilshan's second half-century of the tournament was largely overshadowed until after his dismissal.

The West Indian bowlers made novice errors while bowling to Jayasuriya. They often gave him too much width, allowing him to free his muscled forearms and launch the ball over the off side, instead of cramping him for the room he loves. They bowled too short and too straight as well, giving Jayasuriya the space to lift the ball off his pads. Denesh Ramdin, West Indies' captain for the day, was forced to make frequent bowling changes but none of his bowlers were able to break Sri Lanka's opening stand before it caused severe damage. Jayasuriya and Dilshan added 124 for the first wicket in 12.3 overs, and Dilshan took charge thereafter to steer Sri Lanka towards a match-winning total.

Jayasuriya's innings today ended a period of poor Twenty20 form: he had a quiet IPL and his scores in three innings since arriving in England were 26, 1 and 2. He certainly didn't look out of touch today, though, tearing into Fidel Edwards' first over by launching the first ball through cover and the third over cover for fours, before pulling a short fifth ball powerfully over deep backward square leg.

He was aggressive against all comers, slashing Dwayne Bravo in his first over to the boundary, sweeping and reverse sweeping Sulieman Benn, and powering Kieron Pollard to the long-off boundary. And when Edwards returned after everyone else had failed to take a wicket, Jayasuriya attacked him once again, carving the first ball over the point boundary, pulling two short balls for fours behind square, before chipping a wide one past the wicketkeeper. Edwards' two overs cost 37 runs and he wasn't given the ball again.

Jayasuriya dominated the early scoring, contributing 32 out of Sri Lanka's first 40 runs, but Dilshan eventually emerged from his shadow with astonishing improvisation. He moved across his stumps to Pollard's first ball, bent down low, ready to play the scoop and sent it flying over the wicketkeeper's head for four. Dilshan may not have even been looking at the ball as he made contact but it was no fluke. He had played it against Australia and he did it again against Lendl Simmons. Dilshan went on to cut Pollard over point for six and a four during a first over that cost 19. He rattled Pollard, forcing the bowler to abort his run-up by getting into position extremely early to repeat his scoop, and even reverse-swatted Benn for four. He switched to a higher gear after Jayasuriya was dismissed, finished with 74 off 47 balls.

West Indies withered under the onslaught: Benn dropped Dilshan at short third man and Andre Fletcher let one pass him on the fine-leg boundary. The last bowler Ramdin turned to, however, proved to be their best. Simmons first struck in the 13th over, trapping Jayasuriya who attempted a reverse-hit when a century was there for the taking, and his next big wicket, that of Dilshan, was also a result of a failed reverse-sweep. Those two strikes from Simmons helped keep Sri Lanka under 200.

Chasing 193 is a daunting task but even more so when a team is without their most dangerous hitter. West Indies had rested Gayle, who suffered a knee injury during his razing of Australia, because this match was, for all practical purposes, a dead rubber. They were dented further when their other half-centurion against Australia, Andre Fletcher, lost his leg stump to a slower full toss from Lasith Malinga.

Simmons, who opened in Gayle's absence, showed some fight, mowing Ajantha Mendis to the midwicket boundary and reverse-hitting him past short fine leg. West Indies' cause was aided by sloppiness in the field: Jayasuriya and Malinga both conceded five wides and Xavier Marshall's 14 included five overthrows.

West Indies had raced to 65 for 1 after six overs but a passage of play during which they lost three wickets in seven balls ruined their chances of victory. Muttiah Muralitharan landed the first punch, inducing Simmons to edge to first slip, and Mendis struck twice in an over, getting rid of Marshall and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. West Indies had slipped to 73 for 4 and even though Bravo, who reached his 50 off 37 balls with a thunderous six over long-on off Malinga, and Ramnaresh Sarwan shared a 77-run partnership, the innings had lost too much momentum and there was always too much lost ground for the batsmen to make up. Sarwan and Pollard startd the final over needing 28 but managed only 12.

The victory put Sri Lanka on top of Group C, the toughest pool in the preliminary round.

Source : Cricinfo