Jayawardene praises zimbabwe

[jimbo]

Jayawardene blames shot selection
1 December 2008


There were precious few square-drives by Mahela Jayawardene in a torrid series for the skipper

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Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has denied that his nightmare time with the bat during the 5-0 one-day series whitewash of Zimbabwe was due to over-confidence against lesser opponents.

Although his team kept winning, the 31-year-old contributed only 19 runs in four innings and was dismissed for ducks in the final two games.

Jayawardene’s series mirrored his 2003 World Cup, where he famously contributed just 21 runs in seven innings.

“As a top-order batsman there is always pressure and expectation on me to perform but like any cricketer, one goes through a lean spell, when you don’t find your rhythm and as a result can’t spend time in the middle,” he said.

“But the most important thing is you realise where you went wrong and try to rectify that as quickly as possible. I have played enough cricket to realise that.

“I will be working very hard on my game so that I contribute to the team when the next season starts.

“I have never had over-confidence in my life. In 11 years of international cricket I’ve never walked into a game with over-confidence.

“I’ve known that I have to work very hard for my runs and that is what has worked for me.

“For five games (in Zimbabwe) the highest total was 170, the conditions here were very tough and we knew one had to work very hard to get runs.

“So it wasn’t over-confidence, just that maybe the options that I took, preparation and shot selection, were the wrong ones and I will need to work on that.”

While the whitewash result gave the series a lop-sided appearance, the games themselves were much closer and many were surprised that Sri Lanka did not crush their opponents.

“When we came here we set ourselves a goal, we said we wanted to win the one-day series 5-0 and it was done,” Jayawardene said.


Angelo Mathews appeals for Keith Dabengwa's wicket in the fourth ODI at Harare Sports Club

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“We achieved it but it was not the most convincing way of doing it. You need to consider the conditions we played in and also that Zimbabwe rose to the occasion, especially in the last two or three games.

“They (Zimbabwe) performed really well, especially with the ball. At the end of the day we were put under pressure yes but winning 5-0 is always good and winning is a very good habit.

“We know the areas we didn’t do well in during the series and we will work very hard on that. We need to be more consistent in our all-round game and make sure that we are heading in the right direction.”

Jayawardene added that Zimbabwe deserve to be given more respect.

“What you have to realise is that is Zimbabwe is a good team, they’ve got talent but it’s just that they haven’t been consistent,” he said.

“We knew that as well and so we were prepared when we came here so we did not have to take anything lightly. We never said it would be a walk in the park.

“The important thing is that when we were put under pressure we came back strongly.

“We expected a tough challenge and it was a very good experience for us, especially a young team with only three senior players with over 100 caps. So it was a good experience that we will take to the next World Cup.

“Zimbabwe has four or five very good individuals, Prosper (Utseya) is one of them, he’s got a lot of confidence.

“Hamilton (Masakadza) and Elton (Chigumbura) - he’s got a lot of talent but is not consistent and there are a few other good individuals.

“But the most important thing is that you can have good individual players but if you don’t play as a team it is very difficult to win matches.

“Individuals can only take you a certain distance but you need to play as a unit to win matches.”


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[Dr_Situ(ZimFanatic)]

Good to see Mahela giving credit where it is due.