NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan cricket legend Sanath Jayasuriya has come to the defense of Pallekele as one of the venues for the ongoing Asia Cup, addressing criticism about the choice of venues. Jayasuriya mentioned that the city has experienced "unusual weather" in the past few days, leading to concerns about rain affecting matches.
The decision to co-host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka instead of the UAE has faced criticism, especially after the second half of the India-Pakistan match was washed out, and the match against Nepal was affected by rain.
Jayasuriya explained that while he has memories of playing cricket in Sri Lanka in September, Pallekele wasn't expected to receive such heavy rainfall during this time.
His comments suggest that the weather conditions have been atypical for the season, contributing to the challenges faced during the Asia Cup matches in Sri Lanka.
"I think we did, I cannot remember. I played a long time ago; we would have played in the months of August and September," said Jayasuriya, who came for the trailer launch of his Sri Lanka teammate Muttiah Muralitharan's biopic '800'.
"We never expected this kind of weather. Normally, in Pallekele, it is a dry zone — you do not get much rain and it is only seasonal rains. In Pallekele, you do not get unusual weather. We cannot help," Jayasuriya added.
Jayasuriya said India have a balanced side in the Asia Cup and their top-order's struggle against Pakistan's pace battery is not to be panicked about.
"They are a very good Indian team. Unfortunately in the Asia Cup (match) it got rained off against Pakistan. Even yesterday's game (against Nepal) was mostly rained off, but they have a balanced team," he said.
"These things happen in cricket — there are days when you will not get runs and there are days when you will. I do not think anybody should panic about it much. This Indian side is good," Jayasuriya said.
The former captain also backed Sri Lanka to excel in the coming assignments.
"They are playing well in the Asia Cup and even against Afghanistan they have played well. They need to continue performing during this tournament so that they get more confidence," Jayasuriya said.
(With PTI inputs)
