I get excited seeing Shikhar Dhawan play, says Sri Lanka cricket legend Sanath Jayasuriya

IANS

New Delhi: Sri Lanka cricket great Sanath Jayasuriya bid adieu to his playing days six years ago but his passion for the game hasn't sunk a bit since then. With India touring in Sri Lanka for a long series, Jayasuriya's attention has been caught by an attacking Indian left-handed opener, Shikhar Dhawan.

The Virat Kohli-led Team India thrashed Sri Lanka by 308 runs in the opening Test at Galle, and Jayasuriya had quite a lot of important factors to touch upon, including his perception of Dhawan and Kohli, post conclusion of the match.

In an interview with TOI, Jaysuriya asserted that the hosts do have the mettle to fightback in the reamaining two Tests of the series.

"India did come back the last time that they were here, after losing in Galle. This is cricket, and if we apply ourselves and want (to come back), then we can. 

"This is something we proved last year, when we beat Australia, then the world's No. 1 Test team 3-0 when they were here. It wasn't a one-off win, because you can't win three Tests in a row without playing well. So, our player are capable. We need to give them a lot of confidence," said the former Lankan great.

"Anybody can be defeated. When Australia came here the last time, that's what we were thinking. We were thinking 'How are we going to beat the world's top Test team. They've a good bowling side.' It's still a matter of playing some basic cricket," he continued.

Jayasuriya also held high praise for the current Indian team, saying it is very rare to get such a talented squad in all areas.

"It's very good...very talented bunch of cricketers. You don't get this kind of a combination in all departments of the game all the time," said Sanath.

While Jayasuriya himself is considered as one of the most attacking players to have ever played cricket, he admitted that seeing a fellow left-hander in the form of Dhawan hitting the ball with such ease, gets him excited.

"I think I'm excited when I see Dhawan attack. It reminds me of the time about 15 years ago, when a lot of attacking batsmen were around. When someone plays like that, it's nice to see," Jayasuriya said on Dhawan.

Though he was full of praise for Dhawan, Jayasuriya did admit that dropping his catch in the first innigns came back to haunt the hosts in the match.

"He attacked and got some runs. He was a bit lucky that his catch was dropped (by Asela Gunaratne, when Dhawan was on 31). We dropped (Hardik) Pandya's catch (by Dimuth Karunaratne off Herath when Pandya was on four) too, and he went on to score 50. So, these are little things we need to fine-tune. So, we need time, confidence.