Sanath wants to lift MSC
LEARN IT FROM THE MASTER: Sri Lanka great Sanath Jayasuriya (C) imparts some tips to Rokibul Hasan after the latter's innings during Mohammedan's Premier Cricket League match against BKSP at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday. Jayasuriya, who is here to play for Rokibul's club, had earlier scored only nine.Photo: Anisur Rahman
Sanath Jayasuriya's first match for Mohammedan proved to be a personal disappointment but with a vital win in the bag, the legendary Sri Lanka opener stressed the need to strike a winning run if the Black & Whites wanted to progress up the table.
"Mohammedan needs a boost up in the league and I want to contribute to their cause in whichever manner possible, primarily with the bat but also with the ball and in the field."
Mohammedan currently stand sixth on the points table with three wins from seven matches and a draw.
Jayasuriya had an ordinary day on the field by his standards yesterday, against BKSP, scoring nine of 16 balls and chipping in with one scalp conceding 29 runs of 9 overs.
He was run out in the 7th over with the score on 28.
"We were 30 to 40 runs short of what would have been a good score, and we also bowled well but Mominul (Haque) looked like a cool customer and thankfully he got run out, otherwise the game could have gone otherwise," said Jayasuriya praising the BKSP young tyro's fighting 46.
In spite of the heavy security in Fatullah which reflected events elsewhere, the former Sri Lanka captain refused to be drawn into the current crisis in Lahore or the issue of the postponement of Pakistan's tour to Bangladesh.
But he admitted that it felt good to be back in Dhaka.
"It's always great to be in Bangladesh and play for Mohammedan, I played for them way back in 1997 and have played once after for a different team (Acme in the Corporate League). I feel completely at ease to play for Mohammedan as the officials are great and I always get along well with the boys."
Jayasuriya, who currently has more than 11,000 ODI runs and over 300 wickets in the same format, was however disappointed with the pitch considering it to be slow and low in bounce.
"Well I have been playing in South Africa recently and the pitches there were fast, seaming and bouncy which is quite a contrast to the wickets here, but as international cricketers we must adjust. Today's wicket behaved slowly and the ball was keeping low.
"When I came onto bowl, I expected some turn but with the sun shining brightly it made the wicket a perfect deck to bat on."
Jayasuriya who currently holds the record of playing the highest number of one day internationals, flew home yesterday night but will be back on March 11 to feature in Mohammedan's match against Biman on the 12th.
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