Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has led the side to a first bilateral ODI series win against India in 27 years where India suffered a 2-0 defeat in the three-match ODI series after the first game resulted in a tie.
India hasn’t faced defeat in the ODI series against Sri Lanka was way back in 1997. Notably, Jayasuriya was the Player of the Series back then. The former Sri Lanka captain orchestrated the win from the sidelines as his players put on a show at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, much to the delight of the home fans.
Sri Lanka suffered a 3-0 in the T20I series, which was played before the ODIs. But they bounced back and dominated India in the limited-overs cricket.
“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,” said Sanath Jayasuriya.
“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,” said Jayasuriya.
“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 realized what went wrong when we came back to Colombo, and they started to play well,” he added.
Sri Lanka had major blowback as several key players had injury concerns ahead of the series including Wanindu Hasaranga who got injured after playing first ODI. Jayasuriya has hailed Jeffrey Vandeersay for his impressive run in the series.
“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,” concluded Sanath Jayasuriya.
