Jayawardene urges talented Lankan players to ‘up ante’ in order to succeed

Sydney: Outgoing Sri Lanka captain has urged his young teammates to work hard and raise their game in order to succeed at the international stage and help the national team come out of their current tragic state.

Jayawardene will remain in the side but hand over leadership responsibility to young all rounder Angelo Mathews, who takes over with the team having lost 3-0, their fourth series loss by clean sweep and third to Australia, News.com.au reports. Sri Lanka have blooded a host of young players on this tour due to consequence and injury, and the likes of Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Shaminda Eranga showed moments of promise. However, Jayawardene said talent alone will not carry forward these budding stars, and added that it’s a much tougher process. Jayawardene advised the younger players to identify their weaknesses and work upon them to become a better player. Jayawardene said players like Thirimanne, Karunaratne, Mathews and Chandimal all have talent and they have shown that, adding that is why they are here. The skipper said as long as these players are willing to learn and work hard they will make those big scores and they will be future of Sri Lanka cricket definitely. Jayawardene said these young players need to overcome the mental hurdles as well since to become a top player, a youngster needs to be mentally sound as well. Sri Lanka has never won a Test in Australia, and from being No.2 in the world rankings two years ago they have slipped to fifth. With Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera and Rangana Herath all over 34, the side can expect massive transformation in the next two years. ANI