My teammates’ extensive backing helped me to perform well – Praveen-by Dhammika Ratnaweera

Praveen Jayawickrama with the Man-of-the-Match award. Pic courtesy SLC

Man-of-the-Match Praveen Jayawickrama said that the support from his teammates really inspired him to perform well in the second Test against Bangladesh, which concluded at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy yesterday.

“I feel extremely happy to play for Sri Lanka and my entire family members are pleased because my childhood dream was to play for the country one day,” a smiling left-arm spinner said after the game.

“I had a little bit of pressure going into the game but my skipper and all other senior players and the support staff always encouraged me to overcome the challenges,” the 22-year-old said.

“During practices I did a lot of spot-bowling and I always maintained a good line and length which helped me to achieve this kind of success on the field,” Jayawickrama added. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne who was named Man-of-the-Series highly praised the two spinners Praveen Jayawickrama and Ramesh Mendis.

“Praveen does the simple things well. He pitches the ball in the right spot. That’s something we saw from Rangana Herath as well,” he said.

“He makes the batsman play and gives the ball a chance to do something .When you play at this level, you have to have that consistency in line and length.”

“At a time when we didn’t have anyone experienced, both bowlers came and bowled like experienced players.”

“I think Ramesh also gave Praveen a lot of help from the other end in terms of building pressure. That bowling partnership was good, and they had an understanding because they also play for the same club [Moors SC],”