Yash Sardesai, CEO of Sri Lanka Legends and Tillakaratne Dilshan, Captain of Sri Lanka Legends recently joined NewsX for an exclusive conversation as a part of NewsX India A-List. Sri Lanka Legends is currently competing in the Road Safety World Series 2021. Yash Sardesai started off by sharing his journey of being the CEO of Sri Lanka Legends and how it happened in the month of March`20 but unfortunately due to pandemic it had to stop in between.
“Everything is in the ongoing continuation. It has been a great & wonderful experience altogether. I had learned a lot of things from Dilshad and Sharad. I had got a wonderful platform & a good learning background from Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara,” Sardesai added.
Tillakaratne Dilshan is a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team and is the best rated Sri Lankan player in run-chases in ODI history. Talking about getting back on the field post-retirement, Tillakaratne Dilshan, said, “It’s a great feeling because after a long time we are sharing the same dressing room with past cricketers and official cricketers like Sachin Siva, we used to play IPL and it feels like we are playing international cricket again especially in India. ”
Often regarded as one of the most innovative ODI batsmen of all time, Dilshan shared how it feels to be playing during the pandemic,” It was little hectic because we are stick to the room. We can’t go outside due to the covid rules but it was the best time to build up our team. We are altogether playing outside, going to gym, pool, meetings. This is the bonding time I feel.
Talking about his bond with Sardesai, Dilshan told us “Yash and I has really good bond. Yash is everything to us. We are doing really good as a family. Tomorrow we have cooking session where Sri Lankan & Indian players are going to make lunch together. Moreover Yash trust us a lot. Sometimes I call on him regarding what is the plan for upcoming match and he says cricket is not in my hand. Go & play cricket with your team.”
Dilshan further mentioned that finals and semi-finals are left and the team is really looking forward to win. Talking about the sport and how it is helping to raise road safety awareness Sardesai said “Cricket which is watched all over the world is helping create awareness & by following the particulars cricketers they follow the rules as well.” Dilshan added “Nowadays cricketers have fan pages and following them means that the message is going strongly to the people. Life is valuable to this world so we can pass this message through cricketers and it’s the main aim. I am so happy that the organization come up with these safety measures especially for Asian countries.”
“Last game we had with England was really amazing. We bowled out them and we chase them in 7 overs. Post that game we were all pumped up and everyone heighten up to go in semi finals. So, we did bowling and batting both really well. We are looking forward to perform in the same pattern,” continued Dilshad.
On a concluding note, Yash Sardesai said that it saw really a good fan moment seeing players winning the game. “I am a big fan of cricket but never played it on big level. And I am passionate about the game. So these particular series helped me a lot in gaining the experience It’s a constant fan moment for me.”