Aravinda de Silva believes he can help guide Sri Lanka's young stars to glory after taking up a post with the Under-19 team.
Sri Lankan great to help out young stars of the future
Aravinda de Silva believes he can help guide Sri Lanka's young stars to glory after taking up a post with the Under-19 team.
The 42-year-old will be working with the squad until they depart for the ICC Under-19 World Cup on February 2.
There are few better Sri Lankans for the young hopefuls to learn from than de Silva, who played 93 Tests and 308 one-dayers for his country and finished his career with 15,000 first-class runs to his name.
Now he is hoping he can pass on some of his knowledge to Sri Lanka's brightest talents, helping them realise that it takes more than a perfect technique to succeed at the top.
Potential
"There's absolutely no problem with the talent we have. I feel the kids we have have the potential. What they lack probably is guidance," he said.
"They are very keen to work hard, which is a good sign, but when it comes to match situations, maybe coaches at some schools are confusing them.
"But then, they are not in a position to walk into the national side and replace any of the players there.
"I am not taking anything away from the school coaches, they have done their best to teach the young players the basics, but I feel we should try to build on strengths rather than be too technical and confuse these kids."
De Silva is working alongside coach Roger Wijesuriya to help get the Sri Lankans ready for the World Cup in Malaysia.
Before then the squad will take on England and Pakistan in a triangular one-day tournament that will take place in Dambulla.
