Former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya made a trip to Mumbai on Sunday during a private visit to the metropolis. During his visit, Jayasuriya met students of the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) facility at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).
Jayasuriya later spoke to The Quint about the recently concluded India-Sri Lanka Test series which was won by Virat Kohli’s men. The former left-handed batsman said he was very impressed by Kohli’s leadership in the series, but asked all Indians to be patient before he gains the same stature as some of his illustrious predecessors.
In the same vein, Jayasuriya was impressed in the way Kohli and his boys managed to come up with a back-up plan each time something failed in the Test series.
During Jayasuriya’s time as a player, he witnessed just one Test series loss to India in his backyard but this time he observed that the spinners and fast bowlers from India formed a good unit to dismiss Sri Lanka for below-par scores in the series.
The biggest talking point of the series was the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara. Now with the batting mainstay gone, Jayasuriya underscored the importance of Sri Lanka being patient with the newcomers, since it is not easy to replace players who have played for more than 15 years. But the Matara Mauler said that it is time the likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal take up more responsibility in the line-up.
Angelo Mathews’ leadership came for special praise from Jayasuriya who felt that he had matured as a player.