Former Sri Lanka great, Aravind de Silva has revealed that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is in touch with former captain and batting great Mahela Jayawardene for a possible coaching role with the country’s Under-19 team. India have benefited immensely from the appointment of Rahul Dravid at the same position for their U-19 team and de Silva feels someone of Jayawardene’s stature can give a lot to the Sri Lankan players.
De Silva said the SLC is trying to persuade the star batsman to take up the role with the U-19 team and cited the kind of work Dravid has done at the grassroots level and with young players in India.
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“Well, I think when he was appointed as the Under-19 coach, I thought India did a good job. Sri Lanka had been trying for a long time to persuade Mahela Jayawardene to take up the job of U-19, but I was not so successful in doing so.”
Dravid has been credited with building a strong center of reserve players for India with his tremendous work in the Under-19 and India-A teams as well as at the NCA in Bengaluru and de Silva wants Jayawardene to do the same for Sri Lanka. Act the part.
“I think this is where the foundation lies and if you lay the foundation at the under-19 level, it becomes so much easier to really progress from there. That’s where I think you’ll be able to communicate the knowledge This is where you can truly express yourself, once you have a foundation with someone like Rahul, you all know he is a very disciplined person.”
De Silva further said that it is important to have a national hero as a coach because players can look up to him and be inspired and inspired.
“The most important thing for U-19 guys is to have their hero as a coach. It’s not just a part of cricket, but a person has a lot more than just cricket.”
De Silva also expressed regret over reports that indicated that ace all-rounder Angelo Mathews was considering retirement due to disagreements with SLC on several issues. He has already been ruled out of the series against India.
“It is a pity if Angelo Mathews has decided to step down at this stage,” he said. I see him as someone who has contributed a lot to Sri Lankan cricket. I don’t want to see any senior member leave the team like this,” de Silva said.
“It is time for the players to put these issues aside and look to the future. There are a lot of things that he could have given to Sri Lanka and he should have shown that kind of spirit, character and he should have handled the situation in a manly manner.”
De Silva had a different stance on the second-line Indian team, which is set to play a limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, stating that any team from the neighboring country makes for a formidable opposition.
“I personally feel that any side that will come and change and play exciting cricket and as you know, they have a lot of talent. There is no way for either side to be called the second string. If you look at the current way of handling players, the rotation base around the world, and living in a player bubble has become very challenging, it’s not easy,” de Silva said.
Sri Lanka is going through a rough phase in international cricket – they suffered a 3-0 loss in T20Is and a 2-0 loss in the ODI series in England.
Meanwhile, former India limited-overs specialist Ajay Jadeja said the quality of cricket may not be top-notch in the upcoming India-Sri Lanka series, but it will not take away the excitement and competition.
“I personally think you will see more intensity. Some players want to make a comeback in the Indian team, so a lot is at stake on that front. Sometimes you don’t see the intensity in the verbal action, from the players point of view. , it is important for any player who gets picked. For every player on this tour, I have no doubt, the intensity will be as good as what you have seen in the past. I am not sure about the quality, but It will have intensity,” Jadeja said.
Jadeja said that it was a bit of a surprise for him to include Varun Chakraborty.
“I am sure, when the selectors pick someone, they look to him to perform well. But when you talk about the six spinners who have been picked, one was a surprise to me and that is Varun Chakraborty.”
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