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'I think every team has a unique DNA'
****Sri Lankan batting legend Mahela Jayawardene is currently in Bangladesh to play for Dhaka Dynamites in the Bangladesh Premier League. And in a freewheeling interview on Friday with The Daily Star's Naimul Karim in Chittagong, he shed light on his post-retirement life, discussed Bangladesh's rise in international cricket and spoke about how Mosaddek Hossain plays the cut shot better than him. Following are the excerpts of the interview.****
The Daily Star (TDS): It has been two years since your international retirement. Is post-retirement life difficult? Mahela Jayawardene (MJ): No, not really. When I retired from international cricket I had always planned that retirement. The reason I have played a bit of cricket around the world is that while I was playing for Sri Lanka I never really had the opportunity to play and enjoy myself. I think there is a lot more pressure when you are playing for your country and the last two to two- and-a-half years have been good for me. I got to play in different leagues, be in different countries and meet different people. I never played county cricket before either. It was only after I retired that I went and played two seasons. At the same time I get to spend more time with my family because they can travel with me.
TDS: You were always an aggressive player on the field. Off it though you were regarded as one of the gentlest cricketers. How do you strike that balance?
MJ: I played the game really hard but I respected each and every opposition. Yes I wanted to win the matches, but in the right spirit. You have to respect the game. The game is above all of you or anyone. You have to value that and have good values as a professional sportsman as well. Yes I have played
hard. Whenever I had to get into certain people 1 did, but in the right way. But I have always walked away from the ground having good friends and people I think appreciate that kind of camaraderie rather than anything else. That's probably why I have made many good friends throughout my cricketing career.
TDS: The elegance with which you batted has inspired so many cricketers. Was that something that came naturally to you?
MJ: It was natural. But the thing is I always tell young cricketers don't try to copy someone because it is hard work to copy someone. Everyone has got his or her own identity. The way you have been built is different for each and every individual. It would have been a very boring place if each and everyone was the same. So I always wanted to back myself with my ability. Yes, I have taken lot of things from different players; how they think about the game, how they approach certain things. I have learnt from that but I have always been close to my own identity.
TDS: You were a part of the Sri Lankan team that went through two transitions. It's going through another one right now. Do you think they are on the right track?
MJ: There is no hard and fast rule about how best you can have a transition. I
think it's all up to the individual players to believe that you are good enough. Obviously the first two transitions when the people left, yes we had big holes, but we had talent coming through. So, I think you know even with the latest transitions you see quite
a few young Sri Lankan players have come through. You just need time and confidence to develop.
I always feel that it's a mind game. 75 per cent is up here (points towards his head). Everyone is naturally gifted. Some might be a little bit different than the others. But the biggest differ-
ence is how you manage the game up here. How you prepare yourself and discipline yourself and approach. That's where the big battles are won. TDS: Bangladesh has gone through a transition as well, haven't they?
MJ: I think they have come a long way
in the last four years. Obviously having a good Sri Lankan coaching group has helped them. It's a very steady set up. They have given lots of good opportunities to some very exciting talent and they are reaping good rewards. But you still have the nucleus ofTamim [ Iqbal |, Mashrafe |Bin| Mortaza, Shakib |A1
Hasan], Mushfiq [ur Rahim] and Mahmudullah [Riyad].
Some of the times you feel... like if you see in the T20 World Cup where they didn't finish matches off, that is a criticism you have in Bangladesh. That consistency is not there. That belief that they could consistently beat teams and kill the games off... even in this Test series, they should have won the first Test and they should have won the one-day series as well. So that killer instinct is lacking but that's something that will come with experience. But there is a huge rise in Bangladesh's cricket.
TDS: Is it too early to compare Bangladesh's rise to that of Sri Lanka in the 90s?
MJ: I don’t like to compare different teams or eras or whatever. 1 think every team has a unique DNA. The culture of Bangladesh is different to Sri Lanka, Pakistan or even India. That DNA needs to come through. Because I have always said, we need to play the Sri Lankan brand of cricket to win matches either at home or away. If we play the Sri Lankan brand of cricket we can beat any team. We can win World Cups. That's what we have done. We have come to six or seven World Cup finals in the last 15 years and that is because we played our brand of cricket. So the DNA needs to come through.
TDS: What's your take on some of the
youngsters in the BPL and the Dynamites?
MJ: Well obviously, this is the first time I have seen Mosaddek [Hossain]. He is a fantastic player. The way he controls the game at such a young age and without much experience is fantastic, and obviously Mehedi Maruf as well. He didn't play first class cricket for a while but he has come back. The maturity he shows when he bats is brilliant. There are a lot of youngsters from the under 19s who are doing well too.
TDS: Mosaddek likes to play the cut quite a bit. That's something that you did often, didn't you?
MJ: (Laughs). He is probably playing it much better than me to be honest. I didn't have that much power over extra cover or cover.
TDS: You have played just one game. But still, how has the BPL treated you so far?
MJ: It has so far has been very good. The experience has been very good security wise as well as with our owners. It's a very good franchise. I have only played one game purely because of the combination we have and we have a very good team. There are very exciting young players in the Dhaka team and we have done very well with our combination. As a tournament it has come a long way in the last three to four years. The level has improved.