Published: Nov 13, 2014, 03:20 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 13, 2014, 03:21 PM (IST)
Former Sri Lanka captain and present chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya cautioned Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene from making controversial comments to media and said that he will exclude the two seniors if they are found passing information.
“Both of them have been in the team for so long that they should understand what to talk. There is no excuse for what they have done. I feel things are getting out of hand here. Revealing our plans to media cannot be justified. Our plans are supposed to be a surprise to the opponents,”Jayasuriya was quoted as said by Daily Mirror on Wednesday.
“By the way things are happening; we might even have to keep them out of the meetings where plans are discussed. This is setting a dangerous precedent. What they have told media are things that we had discussed at a meeting. They were just basic ideas only. Nothing was final. When they go and tell the media as if it were all their plans, it puts us in an embarrassing situation,” Jayasuriya added.
“Those are decisions that the national selectors should take, not the players. If the players are going to do our job, what is the point of having selectors there at all?,” he questioned.
Jayasuriya was unhappy about the duos comments on the team’s batting line-up.
“I flew out on Friday night to talk to the boys as our performance has obviously been a notch below their potential. I had a meeting with Captain Angelo Mathews, Sangakkara, Jayawardene and coach Marvan Atapattu. There at that meeting, we discussed a few plans and setting the batting order was one of them. We all put our ideas in, and it all were discussed,” Jayasuriya said.
“But none of them were final decisions. Only I was there and I am just one selector. I could not make a commitment without consulting other selectors. I came back to Colombo on Saturday evening, but was thoroughly disappointed to read all about what we discussed in the papers,” he added.
“I had a one to one chat with Sanga and he did not protest the decision at all. Selectors had already decided when they named the squad for the India tour to rest Sanga and Dhammika (Prasad) for the last two ODIs. Sanga keeps wickets and then needs to bat long. It is a tall order and with so many fixtures against England and New Zealand coming up, we need to manage the seniors carefully. It was a case of preserving him for the long schedule ahead rather than looking for a win at all expense,” explained Jayasuriya adding that the particular decision had been clearly entered in the national selectors’ selction log book when the squad had been picked. He said it was not a sudden decision in the middle of the series.’
“The players can suggest plans at discussions, but the implementation of those plans will be handled by the selectors. Discussing plans with media is not the ideal way to face the challenges,” Jayasuriya concluded.
