Teams don’t need extraordinary players to win T20 games, but good players may still contribute to a team victory if they play well together, according to former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya. Sanath Jayasuriya, 53, who made a substantial contribution to Sri Lanka’s triumph in the ODI World Cup in 1996 (221 runs and seven wickets), thinks the Lankans will perform well in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia from October 16 to November 13.
Many experts didn’t foresee Sri Lanka’s victory in the recently held Asia Cup, where they lost to Afghanistan in the first game before shocking Pakistan and India to win the competition for the fifth time. However, opening great Sanath Jayasuriya from the cricket-crazy nation made many experts change their predictions. “I wasn’t really surprised. We have quite a good bunch of cricketers. It’s the right time they peaked, you know. They lost the first game, anybody can lose a game and come back. So, they lost the first game and realized what went wrong. They worked hard on their individual game and performed as a team. You don’t need to have outstanding players. They are good players who did well as a team,” Jayasuriya said on Wednesday.
The two-time national top selector for Lanka mentioned the following while discussing the team’s strong points: “They’re playing good cricket. That’s all you need. If you play quality cricket, results will come.” He believed it was inappropriate to draw comparisons to his renowned 1996 World Cup-winning team. “Any comparison is out. As long as they play their own game, do their basics right, they’ll enjoy their cricket,” stressed the 52-year-old, while batting for Sri Lanka tourism at an event here.
Even the “Marauder from Matara” was unwilling to predict who would win the T20 World Cup in Australia, but he was ready to back the Lankan team, who must first compete in the qualifications, to win the main event. “Sri Lanka will definitely do well,” he said. “T20 cricket is a fast game, it’s a team game. Our boys are playing good cricket. Whoever’s doing well that particular day is going to win the game,” he felt.