Kolkata: Former Sri Lankan legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were undoubtedly two of the greatest cricketers to have come from the island nation. But ever since they have called it a day on their international career, the performance of the team has deteriorated big time as the void created by the retirement of these two legends hasn’t been filled yet.
But Asanka Gurusinha, the manager of the Sri Lankan team wants to these two legends to be back in the mix of things as consultants. “I’ll be happy if Mahela and Sanga can also help us in some way, maybe as consultants. But they’ve their own commitments,” said Gurusinha.
Both Jayawardene and Sangakkara are fulfilling their own commitments across the world. Sangakkara is plying his trade in various T20 competitions while Jayawardene is trying his hand at coaching, which has brought him considerable success as he led the Mumbai Indians to their third IPL title two months back.
But at the same time the former Sri Lankan left-handed batsman is working hard to help the youngsters take up the responsibility and his goal is to prepare a team culture.
Said Gurusinha, “I don’t think (it’s a crisis). We’re working towards the 2019 World Cup. I’ve already moved away from transition because you can’t just keep saying we’re in it. The players understand their responsibility. They need to be accountable for what they do, and they’re doing that well. My main goal is to create a culture in the team. We’re getting there slowly. The last three days (training session here) have shown me the hard-work that the backend team has put in is working.”
He also heaped praise on the Indian captain Virat Kohli saying that the 28-year old is leading from the front.
“It’s not just the runs that he’s (Virat) scored. From what I’ve seen, it’s his preparation that speaks a lot about him. And that’s what I like about Virat. It’s a lot like Sachin used to work hard behind the scenes, which people didn’t get to see. That’s exactly what Virat’s doing. He’s leading from the front. Because the other players need to follow him since he’s the captain. He’s a great player to watch. I’ve only met him a couple of times, but I think he’s a great guy,” he said.
The Sri Lankan team is set to undergo a real test of character and when they take on India in a three-match test series starting from the 26th July in Galle.
(The first day of the first test was dominated by the Indians as opener Shikhar Dhawan staged a grand comeback in the five-day format with a majestic 190. Cheteshwar Pujara too played a supporting knock and a 144* by him ensured that the Indians had the upper hand at the end of the day.)