Rohit-Kohli retirements big loss for India, Sri Lanka have to take maximum advantage: Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has said India will miss the services of stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the T20I format following their retirements after the T20 World Cup.

While Rohit and Kohli will head to Sri Lanka for the three-match ODI series that follow the T20Is starting Saturday, Jayasuriya said the hosts will aim to make the most of their absence in the shortest format.

Suryakumar Yadav will take over the reins as India’s T20I captain with Shubman Gill named his deputy.

“Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are best players in the world. Looking at their talent and the kind of cricket they have played we all know where they belong, along with Jadeja,” Jayasuriya was quoted as saying by Associated Press during a press meet.

“Their absence will be loss to the Indian team and we have to take maximum advantage out of that,” he said.

Bharucha touch for Lankans

Meanwhile, Jayasuriya revealed that Sri Lanka’s players have taken the help of Rajasthan Royals high-performance director Zubin Bharucha in their preparations for the series. Despite few players of the squad being active in the Lankan Premier League, Jayasuriya said the team benefitted from a six-day camp with Bharucha.

“We just started the sessions just after the LPL. Most of the players are playing the LPL, so they were busy with cricket and what we wanted (for them) was to play cricket as much as possible,” Jayasuriya said.

“We got Zubin from Rajasthan Royals and we had about six days of work and also with the other cricketers who finished with the LPL. I hope the players have learnt what you (management) wanted to do in terms of practice and their technique. The preparation was good, and we have two more days in Kandy before the T20 starts,” he added.

“It is important to learn as international cricketers new techniques, new approaches and shot making to be effective,” the former Sri Lanka captain said.

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗚𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗺 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲! 💪#TeamIndia | #SLvIND | @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/sbG7VLfXGc

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2024

‘Up to the players’

The Sri Lankan side has been subject to constant shuffle in personnel over the last couple of seasons. Following the group-stage exit at the recent T20 World Cup, head coach Chris Silverwood stepped down to make way for Jayasuriya as an interim head coach. Former skipper Mahela Jayawardena resign from his position as high performance consultant while T20I skipper Wanindu Hasaranga also relinquished his role.

“It is up to the players, we have been doing all the work in terms of practice, we have given training, we have got best coaches. I think Sri Lanka Cricket has provided most of the things and now it is up to the players,” Jayasuriya remarked on the current state of the team.

“We need to give a little bit of time. I know, for the cricket-loving public it is frustrating sometimes but be patient, give us time, we are working ion it. It is really hard work on it with the players and they will do well,” the 1996 World Cup-winning all-rounder said.

“We have enough of talent. What we want (from them) is to go out in the middle and deliver — it is not easy, we know that. We have delivered when we were playing and now the time has come, people are waiting for this present team to perform and with what we are doing at the moment they will deliver very soon,” he added.

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