Virat Kohli and the Indian team are the best in the world at the moment, declared former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu as he arrived in Mysuru to mentor the Belagavi Panthers in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) Twenty20 tournament.
Atapattu is disappointed that Sri Lanka lost 0-9 to India recently but credited the "Men in Blue" for their performances. According to the former right-hander, Kohli is the best batsman today.
In an exclusive interview with International Business Times, India today (September 8), 46-year-old Atapattu opened up on Sri Lankan cricket's recent woes, Kohli, the Indian Premier League (IPL), Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Lasith Malinga and his achievements despites "zeroes".
Here are the excerpts from the interview.
Question: Tell us about your role with Belagavi Panthers in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL)?
Atapattu: I am here as a team mentor for the Panthers. I am very pleased and privileged to work with this young and enthusiastic group. KPL is a great opportunity for players to showcase their talent and move to the next level, the IPL and further. The amount of T20 cricket played around the world these days, these guys could be picked elsewhere too. It is a great opportunity not only for the players but also to me to share my experience and give them much needed boost and morale.
Q: Obviously you must have been very disappointed with Sri Lanka's performance against India recently. What went wrong and how can they bounce back?
Atapattu: Obviously I am disappointed (with Sri Lanka losing 0-9 to India). But India is the best team in the world in all the formats. It is not like good old days, now India is the best not only in the subcontinent but outside too. Sri Lanka, unfortunately, have been having problems. I will stay away from using the word transition because that has been going on for too long for my liking. When you look at the players and the group, obviously you feel that they lack self confidence.
Now that we don't have the strongest domestic structure and the strongest school cricket set up you must be very careful in grooming players. Hopefully you give them a long run once they are chosen to represent Sri Lanka, otherwise you will be going forward and back. And you will realise that you are at the same place. That is what we can learn from the India series and hopefully we can put a bit more trust and confidence in players to turn this bad run around. Hopefully we will have better results in UAE against Pakistan.
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Q: Are you open to coaching Sri Lanka again or any other international team?
Atapattu: I have devoted a lot of my time for cricket, out of the 46 years that I have lived, and I have devoted very little time for my family. So I have now decided that any full time coaching is ruled out. I have started enjoying life with my family with wife and two daughters. Certainly I won't coach Sri Lanka again simply because I had been with them for four years at different capacities. Almost 70 per cent of players who are representing Sri Lanka now have gone through me in coaching. I have shared my knowledge. Long term coaching is out for me and any short term stints I am open to taking up. I will see what contributions I can make.
Q: Is India's Virat Kohli the best batsman in the world at the moment and can he break Sachin Tendulkar's ODI and Test records?
Atapattu: Cricket is a game of uncertainties, isn't it? Virat is batting as well as anybody I have seen in my career. If he continues to bat this way, obviously it doesn't have to come from me, he will go past everybody. But in reality, cricket won't stay the same. There will be both good and bad times. Important thing is how he comes out of bad times when he gets into. It happened to him in England but he came out of it. But it (bad form) won't happen to him too many times. Certainly he is the best in world cricket today.
Q: Do you want to react to the comments made by Arjuna Ranatunga on 2011 World Cup final where he claimed it was 'fixed'?
Atapattu: I really don't want to jump into any controversy.
Q: Indian Premier League (IPL) has grown massively and recently Star India bought media rights of the tournament for Rs 16,347.5 crore. What impact IPL and T20s have on Test cricket?
Atapattu: India has gone to a level where they have identified talent and managed it. They have categorised talent for Test, ODIs and T20s using their domestic tournaments be it Ranji Trophy, IPL and others. Certain countries do have similar setups but few others have not thought like that. Those countries are paying a huge price in trying to get their act together. T20s are fine as long as the workloads of players are managed. T20s are good for the game to get publicised.
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Q: Sri Lankan veteran paceman Lasith Malinga has been struggling. Do you think he still has it in him to continue?
Atapattu: Lasith should know about his body than anybody else. If he can be the same Lasith Malinga like how he was some years back then he should continue. It is a call that he should make considering his body and how he is bowling. At the end of the day the way he has played and performed, his name should not be tarnished. I am sure he knows that.
Q: How was your relationship with Indian players during your playing career?
Atapattu: Unfortunately, like the modern day games, we did not have too many interactions with opposition players. It was very unfortunate. We were good friends and just said hi, bye. Interactions happened very very rarely. But we had a good relationship. We respected them (Indian players). We had a lot of respect for all opponents. Now because of IPL and other T20 tournaments, lot of players get together more.
Q: How have Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara's retirements affected Sri Lankan cricket?
Atapattu: Any senior player going will create a vacuum. It is not easy to fill into their boots. Maybe one thing which the authorities could have done is planned their exit a bit better. They should have groomed players for those positions. That is what (grooming) people like Arjuna Ranatunga did well compared to what has happened recently.
Q: Are you satisfied with your international career as a player and what are your memorable moments?
Atapattu: I am very pleased with where I got myself in international career, having started with all those zeroes (five ducks in six innings of his first three Tests). My aim was to leave the game after the 2007 World Cup. I wanted to captain Sri Lanka at the World Cup but that did not happen, that was my destiny. I had to undergo a surgery. Obviously (when I played), I did not have the knowledge which I have now. No regrets. For somebody who made so many zeroes in cricket to average almost 40, I can be pleased. My most memorable moment was being in the dressing room when Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup. After that, as a country, everything changed for us. That is the most memorable moment. And I have few personal achievements which I can be happy about. All in all I am sort of blessed to be one of the cricketers that represented Sri Lanka and captained.
Atapattu played 90 Tests (5,502 runs, 16 centuries, average – 39.02), 268 ODIs (8,529 runs, 11 tons, average – 37.57) for Sri Lanka from 1990 to 2007. He was also the captain of the team and later coached the national side. He made his Test and ODI debuts against India in the year 1990. He was part of Sri Lanka's World Cup winning squad in 1996. However, he did not get to play a single match in the tournament.
