Jayasuriya : Individual performances do not matter | Interview

Damboola, Sri Lanka: Although he no longer features in Test matches, Sanath Jayasuriya is still scoring hundreds for Sri Lanka in international cricket. Not just that, he is going places. Soon after this series against India, he will fly to Durban to play for Natal and then will go to India to turn out for Mumbai in the second edition of IPL. He is a busy bee these days!

However, he was not aware of the fact that he had broken the record of Geoffrey Boycott to become the eldest cricketer to score a hundred in one-day matches. Following are excerpts from an exclusive chat with the maestro:

Gulf News: Congrats for the 28th hundred. How does it feel to break the record of Geoffrey Boycott?

Jayasuriya: Which record? I did not know about it!

Before your latest hundred, Boycott was the eldest to score a ton in one-day Internationals ...

Is it? When did he score that? Against whom?

He had scored it against Australia in Sydney in 1979, when he was 39 years and 51 days old. You are now 39 years and 212 days old!

Against Australia? Oh, that's nice. Then this is really an achievement for me to have broken his record. I am happy. But I would have been happier had my team won the last game.

Still, you were the Man of the Match

That's okay. But again, I have to say that individual performances do not matter if your team is not winning. It's important to have contributed to the team's cause and that's what every player looks for. So, despite scoring another hundred in international cricket, I am not happy.

Till now, you have scored 2,633 runs against India with 7 hundreds. The Indian bowlers seem to be the favourites on your list!

Well, I am playing for almost 19 years in international cricket. Just the other day, I came to know that I had scored more than two-and-a-half thousand runs against Pakistan. When one is playing for his country for years, these milestones will be reached. I am happy to be able to score against quality opponents even now.

What was special about this 28th hundred?

Nothing much. It was tremendously hot out in the middle. My target was to be there till the first 15 overs and then to be at the wicket for as many overs as possible. But the heat made it almost impossible. It is quite natural for a man of my age to feel so. But that's part of the game and it gave me lots of confidence.

Now that you have more than 13,000 runs in one-day matches and 28 hundreds, you are second to Sachin Tendulkar only ...

Since I am continuing to play one-dayers for almost two decades now, there are bound to be some runs and hundreds in the bank, is not it? But Sachin is a genius. He will always be on top of all of us.

Sachin had said that he wanted to continue playing till the 2011 World Cup. Do you have similar plans?

I cannot say it now. I do not know whether I shall be able to survive the next two years. I am not playing Test matches any more. Just playing the one-dayers. And as long as I am enjoying the game, I shall be continuing. I have not thought about a particular tournament or so.

What is your next assignment?

I went to Pakistan straight from Durban. And after this series, will return to Durban to play for the Natal side yet again. Actually, I know nothing except playing and these days, it has been a great journey, I must say.

Last year, the Mumbai Indians could not do that well in the Indian Premier League (IPL). What are your expectations from this year's edition of the tournament?

Well, I hope this year will be better. Sachin has done a good job by roping in Zaheer Khan from Bangalore. Zaheer is a rhythmic bowler and at the moment, he is bowling really well. So having him in the side will have its good effects. It was really an intelligent decision from the Mumbai captain.

Dambulla hundred one of my best against India: Jayasuriya

His team may have ended up on the losing side but explosive Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya says he would rate the century in Dambulla as one of the finest he has hit against India.

"It (the century) will be the one I remember most among all the hundreds that I have scored against them (India)," Jayasuriya told .

Matara broke former England opener Geoff Boycott's record as the oldest man to score a century with his 28th ton in Dambulla.

"I think my 107 on Wednesday was good because I was playing to meet the team's demands. The ball was seaming mostly in the morning and we did not have the best of starts when Dilshan got run out," Jayasuriya said.

Asked to name his best innings against India, the left-hander said, "there is nothing like my 151 not out."

He mauled the Indians to all parts of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in May 1997.

All Indian bowlers including Anil Kumble and the present bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad were put to sword in an innings lasting under two hours.

Age and weather hold no bar for Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya, whose 107 made him the oldest centurion in one-day internationals, says he is happy to be scoring runs for Sri Lanka but sidestepped discussion over his future. Asked whether he would continue till the 2011 World Cup, he said: "I don't know, let's see how it goes."

Jayasuriya, now 39 years and 212 days old, broke Geoffrey Boycott's record with his 28th century. Boycott was 39 years and 51 days when he scored a hundred against Australia in Sydney in 1979. Jayasuriya was unaware about the record, but nonetheless pleased to continue performing at the highest level.

"Although I am getting old, if I can get more runs on the board that's the key thing," he said. "I always want to play for my country and perform. Sometimes you don't play that well and when you play well you need to get more runs on the board. That's the goal I always think of whenever I get the opportunity."

Jayasuriya, named the Man of the Match, battled the hot conditions during the innings to record the second century at the venue. "I was struggling a bit today because it was very hot outside. What I wanted to do was bat for the first 10-15 overs and then carry on for a longer period which I did," he said. "The others batted around me and put some runs on the board."

His performance, though, was the only bright spot in a disappointing start for the hosts to the five-ODI series. "India bowled really well in the morning. We knew it would seam around. Our experience was that the wicket would do a lot but it was not the case today. It would have been ideal had we got some more runs on the board. We need to field well and take those catches also."

During his innings, Jayasuriya went past 13,000 ODI runs, the first to reach the mark after Sachin Tendulkar. "You cannot think of records and play cricket, it is difficult. I am happy to have achieved the milestone. Had we won this contest I would have been happier."

It is seldom Sri Lanka finish on the losing side when Jayasuriya scores a century - only three have come in defeats. "It is sad that we couldn't win the match despite my scoring a century. We performed very well in the recent series leading up to today's match," he said. "We have four more matches to go and we should be able to turn it around in the next few games."

Cricinfo

Records tumble as Jayasuriya explodes | Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka Vs India 28th Jan 2009, Dambulla

• When on 37, Jayasuriya became the second player to reach the 13,000 run mark. He was playing his 428th ODI, while Tendulkar achieved this feat in his 330th ODI.

• Aged 39 years and 212 days, Jayasuriya became the oldest to score an ODI hundred. The previous oldest was England’s Geoffrey Boycott who scored a century at 39 years 51 days when he scored 105 versus Australia in Sydney on December 11, 1979. This was Jayasuriya’s 28th ODI hundred and seventh against India.

• This is also Jayasuriya’s 12th century after the age of 35. The next best performance after 35 is five centuries each by Gordon Greenidge, Matthew Hayden and Zaheer Abbas.

• Jaysuriya’s hundred is only the second scored at this ground in 26 ODIs. The only other player to score a hundred at this ground is Rahul Dravid (104) vs UAE on July 16, 2004.

• Jayasuriya won his 49th MOM award. His ninth against India. Twenty four of his 28 centuries have resulted in MOM awards.

• He also crossed 50 for the 95th time to go one clear of Sourav Ganguly, and in second place behind Sachin Tendulkar who has 132

• Sachin Tendulkar (19 years 41 days) now has the second longest career span in one-day cricket. Javed Miandad, with 20 years 272 days, had had the longest career. Sanath Jayasuriya, with 19 years 33 days, is in the third position.

Sanath Jayasuriya slams his 28th century against India

Sanath Jayasuriya just keeps getting better with age. Still going strong in his 40th year, his 28th ODI hundred - on an oppressively hot and humid day and on an uncharacteristically sluggish track - took Sri Lanka to the highest total in a day match in Dambulla. He played a different game from his team-mates: when he got out in the 40th over he had scored 107 in 114 balls, while the rest had managed 64 in 122 deliveries.

Jayasuriya had a bit of making up to do after running out Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over. He had responded to Dlishan's call but stopped after taking two steps and Yusuf Pathan made no mistake in sending back the in-form batsman.

What followed was an asphyxiating opening spell by Zaheer Khan. No runs were scored off his first 17 deliveries, and he gave away only eight runs in that five-over burst. But Jayasuriya targeted Munaf Patel from the other end, taking at least one boundary in the first four of Munaf's overs, not letting the scoring stagnate.

Kumar Sangakkara stayed cautious throughout his 44-run stay - a contrast to Jayasuriya, who reached 38 off 41 deliveries before spinners were introduced in the 16th over. With spin came the shackles, as Pragyan Ojha and Pathan bowled accurately using the slow nature of the pitch to clog the boundaries.

In demanding conditions, Jayasuriya showed he was supremely fit at his age and though he was visibly short of fluids - cramping up and kneeling down between deliveries to recover - he didn't take any short cuts.

He broke the 10-over boundary-less spell by hitting Ojha onto the sightscreen, and followed it up with a pulled four off Yusuf in the next over. But Sangakkara departed just when Sri Lanka had reached a stage from where one of the two could have gone for an all-out assault.

Jayasuriya scored 36 in his next 34 deliveries, and his exit came at an inopportune time as well. He had lost all his energy by the second over of the batting Powerplay as he lobbed a slower fulltoss from Zaheer Khan to Munaf Patel at mid-off.

The batting bar was lowered once again, as Zaheer and Ishant Sharma bowled superbly in the final overs. They used the change of pace to good effect, and Zaheer also managed some late swing. Mahela Jayawardene's struggle continued, and only 82 runs were scored in the last 12 overs.

At the innings break, both teams would have been left thinking - with vastly different emotions - what if there was no Jayasuriya?