Yuvraj lets every player express himself: Jayawardena

15th May 2008

Kings XI Punjab seem to be sitting pretty at the second spot of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) points table behind tournament leaders Rajasthan Royals.

During a press conference, Mahela Jayawardena of the Kings XI talks about his team and their contribution to the IPL so far.

Other than Jayawardena, there are quite a few Lankans playing in the IPL. Kumar Sangakkara is one such player who also happens to be the Lankan skipper's IPL team-mate. However, Sangakkara has sustained a side-strain when attempting to hit an inside-out shot against the Kolkata Knight Riders which has left him on the bench ever since.

Jayawardena said that the Punjab physiotherapist is assessing the situation. He added that they are not going to rush Sangakkara's fitness and will make sure he is completely fit before he commits himself to play as they are playing well and may need him for later matches.

He had high words of praise for his captain Yuvraj Singh saying, "I think he is handling the situation very well being given a responsibility of such a magnitude because the whole world is watching. He's a natural guy and he lets everyone express himself. We got a very young side. It's his first stint so the more he gets used to it, he'll get better at it."

Jayawardena's own batting has seen a slump of form since the opening matches of the tournament. He still averages a fairly decent 21 at a strike rate of 133 in the IPL.

Talking about his own form, Jayawardena seemed less than impressed saying that his role at the moment for the Mohali franchise is to control the situation and try and finish off games. According to the Sri Lankan, he hasn't done that as many times as he would have liked to.

Shaun Marsh missed the first two games for Punjab but after being given a chance to shine, he has stunned everyone in the IPL with some brilliant, consistent performances. He now averages 98 with a strike rate of 136 in the IPL.

Referring to the young batsman who is the fourth highest run-scorer in the IPL, Jayawardena said, "I think he (Marsh) has been a surprise package for all of us. Whenever he's got the opportunity, he has batted beautifully. If he can continue to do what he's doing right now, the rest of us can control things around him."

He was also proud of his side as a whole saying that they've got the best record in the IPL where it came to good starts and good finishes. He also points out another interesting statistic saying, "We've lost one wicket in 6 overs, the least number of times."

He concluded by saying that their ultimate goal was to make it to the next stage of the competition and assured that the last few games are going to be very exciting.

The Kings XI Punjab next take on the Delhi Daredevils at their opponent's home turf, the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on May 17.