‘You cannot get carried away by just playing T20’

Kumar Sangakkara was hard selling Sri Lankan tourism at a mall in the city on Saturday when he was ambushed by a young girl, who told him: “You are seriously cute”. The talismanic Sri Lankan cricketer blushed, did his bit to promote interest in Sri Lanka and then briefly spoke to the media, primarily about cricket.

Excerpts:

On the pressure of being a senior.

‘Senior’ is quite an interesting term: You only get it when you have performed. Whether they play a youngster, they’ve got to take that position from a senior player and it is based on performance. Decisions in the future will be tough but I am sure they (selectors) know what they are doing.”

On chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya’s remark that Sri Lankans don’t look too kindly at youngsters going to IPL.

That’s a valid comment because it is about technique. Technique is very important for Test cricket. Whoever plays the shorter version of the game, when they play Test cricket, it is a completely different challenge; more technical accomplishment is required and that is why Jayasuriya said that and I completely agree. When you’re a youngster you cannot get carried away by just playing T20.

Is there enough talent to replace the seniors?

“We have a great stock of younger players coming through and we’re very happy that we play a big part in guiding them. At the same time, our (his own and that of Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan) careers are coming to an end — sooner than later — and by that time we should ensure that there are enough capable youngsters.”

On Angelo Mathews’ captaincy skills.

“I have seen Angelo Mathews grow as a player and there is a lot more you can get out of him. He is a natural leader and then (Dinesh) Chandimal (vice-captain) is young and for him it is important to gain exposure, build his image and slowly become the next leader after Angelo. It is a good combination but we need to give them patience and time.”