Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya on Wednesday (July 24) revealed that Zubin Bharucha, the high performance director of Rajasthan Royals, has helped his batters in getting ready for the upcoming T20I series against India.
Even though the Sri Lankan players recently featured in the Lanka Premier League, Jayasuriya stated that they have trained with Bharucha for six days.
Sri Lanka will take on a new-look Indian team in a three-match T20I series, starting on July 27 in Pallekele.
"We just started the sessions just after the LPL. Most of the players are playing the LPL, so they were busy with cricket and what we wanted (for them) was to play cricket as much as possible," Jayasuriya said, as quoted by PTI.
"We got Zubin from Rajasthan Royals and we had about six days of work and also with the other cricketers who finished with the LPL. I hope the players have learnt what you (management) wanted to do in terms of practice and their technique.
"The preparation was good, and we have two more days in Kandy before the T20 starts," he added.
Jayasuriya wants his team to capitalize on the retirements of Indian stalwarts such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Following India’s T20 World Cup triumph last month, Kohli and Rohit called time on their T20I careers. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also joined them by announcing retirement from the shortest format.
For the Sri Lanka tour, India have named Suryakumar Yadav as their new T20I captain. The tour will also mark the beginning of Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as India head coach.
"Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are best players in the world. Looking at their talent and the kind of cricket they have played we all know where they belong, along with Jadeja," Jayasuriya was quoted as saying by Associated Press during a press meet.
"Their absence will be loss to the Indian team and we have to take maximum advantage out of that," he said.
The hosts have named middle-order batter Charith Asalanka as their new captain for the T20I series. Asalanka takes over from Wanindu Hasaranga, who relinquished captaincy after Sri Lanka's early exit from the T20 World Cup last month.
Besides Hasaranga, head coach Chris Silverwood and high performance consultant Mahela Jayewardene also tendered their tendered their resignations following the T20 World Cup debacle.
Commenting on Sri Lanka's current situation, Jayasuriya expressed his optimism that the players will be able to grow personally.
"It is up to the players, we have been doing all the work in terms of practice, we have given training, we have got best coaches. I think Sri Lanka Cricket has provided most of the things and now it is up to the players," he said.
"For the present cricketers to come to that level, we have been doing all the necessary work and I hope in next two years there will be a lot of development in these boys," the batting legend stated.
"We need to give a little bit of time. I know, for the cricket-loving public it is frustrating sometimes but be patient, give us time, we are working on it. It is really hard work on it with the players and they will do well."
Sanath Jayasuriya, an integral member of the 1996 World Cup winning team, mentioned that Sri Lanka has the quality in its ranks to come out of this difficult phase.
"We have enough of talent. What we want (from them) is to go out in the middle and deliver -- it is not easy, we know that," he said.
"We have delivered when we were playing and now the time has come, people are waiting for this present team to perform and with what we are doing at the moment they will deliver very soon," he concluded.
