Sanath Jayasuriya eyes a comeback - Report
June 4, 2011 12:05 am
Dubai: Sri Lankan former captain and legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya is aiming for a comeback during the upcoming one-day series in England.
In an interview with Gulf News Chief Cricket Writer K.R. Nayar at Zabeel Park, Jayasuriya, who is on an invitation from the G Force Cricket Academy, said: “I hope to be selected for the England one-day series. I have been playing in the Provincial Series and have played well and got most runs in the domestic season. If I get a chance I will give my best again for my country or I will continue with my preparations for the coming Sri Lankan Premier League (SPL) in July, which is going to be a big and interesting tournament.”
Jayasuriya, who is also pursuing a career as a politician expressed his disappointment at being ignored for the 2011 World Cup.
“I was disappointed when I was not picked for the World Cup. I have been part of the team and also in the thirty [probables] squad and when I missed it, I felt very disappointed.”
“Our chief selector Aravinda De Silva said that he picked the best 15 players for the World Cup, which I don’t think was the best. However, I don’t want to comment on that much.”
To a query on where Sri Lanka went wrong during the World Cup, the 41-year-old Jayasuriya said: “We could never do well in our crucial games, especially against Pakistan and India.”
“We knew we had a good chance to reach the semifinal mainly due to the draw. All that was needed is to play a bit of good cricket to reach the final. On the other hand Indians played tough games and reached the final the hard way.”
With regard to match-fixing allegations, he said: “I don’t know whether how much of it is true as it is still under investigation and I don’t want to comment on it.”
Talking about the new captain Dilshan Tillakaratne, Jayasuriya said: “Dilshan is a fine all-rounder. He has been captain for the clubs for a long time and he has been playing under a lot of experienced captains too. He may go on to learn from his experience.”
According to Jayasuriya it is not easy to win a series in England. “It is tough for us in England because we are not used to such conditions. It is tough especially for the batsmen. Though we did well in the first innings of the first Test it was a disappointing show in the second innings to get all out in 25 overs. Let us hope we do well in the second Test,” said Jayasuriya, who has scored 13,428 runs from his 444 one-dayers.
