Sanath Jayasuriya reveals Rajasthan Royals’ role in Sri Lanka’s ODI series win against India

It was a happy day for Sri Lankan cricket and their interim coach Sanath Jayasuriya having won their first ODI series against India in 27 years. Jayasuriya was an active player when the islanders last beat India in the series. 

Curiously, it was the help of Rajasthan Royals that helped Sri Lanka achieve this massive feat. Sanath Jayasuriya revealed how Zubin Barucha helped Sri Lankan cricket prepare for the series. Zubin Barucha is the Director of High Performance with the 2008 IPL winning side. 

Sanath Jayasuriya said, “I got Zubin from Rajasthan Royals and he came and did a seven-day coaching programme. We learnt a lot, the players learnt a lot on how to bat long innings, and one batsman was batting 2-3 hours.”

IPL side helps Sri Lanka prepare for series against India 

Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lankan coach, was effusive in his praise for Rajasthan Royals man Zubin Barucha. Speaking to the media, the legendary star also said, “That gave the batters a lot of confidence. The players only need confidence. If they get some runs on the board, if they are bowling well, if someone gets starts and gets big runs, so those are the little things they can get the confidence high. At the end of the day, we have beaten the Number 1 team in the world.”

The former Sri Lanka skipper also mentioned that it was a long wait to beat in an ODI series. “It was a very long wait because that series I played in 1997 and got a lot of runs in that series. That was the last series we won against India. After 27 years, I am part of the team and I am very happy to be part of these boys. They are a very nice bunch of players and are talented and the whole country would have seen what we can do,” he said.

“The boys went through a very, very hard time. Even during the T20 series, we played well but the result was not what was expected. The players realised what went wrong when we came back to Colombo and they started to play well,” Jayasuriya further said. 

While addressing the media the Sri Lankan coach gave huge props to the young players in the team and said “We have been working with players like Wellalage, Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Asalanka, all are very young players. Hasaranga got injured and Vandersay has been there for a long time but never got the opportunity and when we gave the opportunity, he grabbed it with both hands”

When asked to speak on the coaching situation, Jayasuriya said, “Sri Lanka Cricket is looking for a coach at the moment. I stepped in for two series: the India series and the England series. They will look for a coach, I’m there as an in-charge for high performance but I will support Sri Lanka cricket. I must thank SLC, they have given everything possible for the players and for our support staff. Also, I hope they will find a good coach to bring these youngsters to a higher level and continue the winning streak.”