BHOPAL: Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya, the former captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team, said that he wants to focus on rebuilding his national team which is facing transition time.
Sri Lankan Cricketer-turned-politician was interacting with media during meet –the-press on Sunday in connection with Madhya Premier League (MPL) cricket championship to be started from June 15.
Considered as one of the greatest one day international (ODI) players, Jayasuriya, refused to make any comment on performance of Indian cricketers. It does not look nice to make any remark on Indian cricketers, they all are good, said ex-Sri Lankan captain.
Refusing to comment on the sting operation carried out by Al Jazeera, the former cricketer said that the Test matches in which India was involved in pitch-fixing were against Sri Lanka (Galle, July, 2017), Australia (Ranchi, March, 2017) and England (Chennai, December, 2016). While the first and third Tests were won by India, the second one against Australia ended in a draw.
Reply to question on the most magnificent opener in cricket world, the legendary cricketer said there are many countries where there are good batsmen as openers. Jayasuriya is credited for having revolutionized one-day international cricket with his explosive batting with Romesh Kaluwitharana in 1996, which initiated the hard-hitting modern day batting strategy of all nations. He served as the deputy minister of Postal services in the former UPFA government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa,(12) and later as the Deputy Minister of Local Government & Rural Development under president Maithripala Sirisena.
Controversy clouds MPL
Controversy shrouds Madhya Premier League (MPL) which will be kicked off from June 15 as it does not have any recognition from Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) or BCCI. The Madhya Pradesh department of Sports is though supporting the event. The league has six teams in which ex-Ranji cricketers and budding players will participate. Cricketers associated with MPCA or BCCI will not participate in the league as they are unlikely to be permitted by the two bodies.
MPL director Altamus Khan, said, we seek support from government to provide a platform for crickets. “There will be no tickets, we will provide passes. So there is no chance of satta bazaar. We will not charge any paisa from participating cricketers. Applications have been uploaded on website. We will select players during trial,” he added.
