'SL must take advantage of Indian retirements': Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka's interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya on Wednesday revealed that IPL side Rajasthan Royal's high performance director Zubin Bharucha has helped his batters prepare for the upcoming T20 series against India where he expects them to take advantage of the recent retirements by stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Rohit, Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja retired from the T20Is after India's World Cup triumph last month. The T20 series against Sri Lanka will get underway here on July 27. Jayasuriya revealed despite some of the Sri Lankan players' involvement in the Lanka Premier League, they have held 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," he 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.

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Jayasuriya said the sessions with Bharucha were intense. "It is important to learn as international cricketers new techniques, new approaches and shot making to be effective," he said. India also have a new captain in Suryakumar Yadav for T20Is and Jayasuriya urged them to make the most of the opportunity.

"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.

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