He changed the grammar of the game when he played it, but Sanath Jayasuriya is facing a different challenge these days.

The 47-year-old, who stroked 6973 runs in 110 Tests and 13430 runs in 445 ODIs, is now presiding over a tough period in Sri Lankan cricket as its chief selector. The exit of quite a few greats from the scene has left the team short of star power and certain match-winners. Apart from left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, there is no one in the current Sri Lankan team you would want to watch in action.

However, since Jayasuriya assumed charge, the Lankans have done surprisingly well, thrashing Australia 3-0 at home, before clinching the tri-series in Zimbabwe, where West Indies was the third team.

In Mumbai for a book launch on Wednesday, the 47-year-old asked for patience before we see the ‘Lankan Lion’ roar again.

“Sri Lankan cricket is going through a transition phase at the moment. When Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakarra and Tillakaratne Dilshan retired from international cricket, we found it difficult to replace those players, because they’d been playing for 15-16 years,” he said. “When I played, I took some risks. Sometimes, as a chief selector, I have to take some calculated risks too. I took a risk by appointing Rangana Herath as the captain for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, as both Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal were injured,” he said.

He then revealed how he was looking to manage the workload of Sri Lanka’s new bowling ace, left-arm spinner Herath, who is already 38, in a way that he lasts for another two years, at least. “I have a big task to manage him.

Whenever I can, I give him a rest, because getting another left arm spinner isn’t easy for us. I’m looking to manage him for at least another two years. It’s difficult, but I’m doing it. When Murali retired, people thought we didn’t have the spinners to take 20 wickets, but I’m happy to say that Rangana is there to do this for us,” he said.

Source: Times of India