"Easy to take credit after this spell" - Jeffrey Vandersay

Sri Lanka's latest spin bowling sensation Jaffrey Vandersay opened up after his match-winning performance in the 2nd ODI of the series between India and Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Vandersay revealed that he was under pressure coming into this match.

Vandersay came into the Playing XI as Sri Lanka's first-choice spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was ruled out of the series due to injury. But he produced a magnificent display of leg spin bowling and used the conditions to his effect.

The leg-spinner had a terrific day as he bamboozled India's middle order with his accuracy and variation. He picked up 6-33 in his 10-over spell, which included the big wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Shivam Dube.

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Jeffrey Vandersay breaks silence on match-winning performance

During the post-match presentation, Vandersay accepted that he was under pressure coming into the match as he was the replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga. He also credited Sri Lanka's batters to put up a respectable total on the board which proved to be enough in the end.

"There was a lot of pressure coming into the line-up, I had to do something special. It's easy to take credit after this spell but the credit goes to the batters. On such a tough wicket to bat on, they put on 240 runs and that helped me bowl the way I did," Vandersay said after the match.

Despite putting in a great performance, Vandersay stated that Hasaranga is still Sri Lanka's No. 1 spinner and he understands the team balance and atmosphere.

"Hasaranga is the number one spinner, no doubt about it. I got to understand the atmosphere, team balance, and everything, I had to stay motivated and keep pushing hard and that's what is required to play for the nation," he added.

Rohit Sharma's wicket built my confidence, claims Jeffrey Vandersay

When asked about the pitch, the 34-year-old claimed that he was just trying to pitch the ball in good areas as the wicket was helping the spinners. He went on to add that Rohit Sharma's wicket gave him the confidence for the rest of the spell.

"There was assistance off the wicket, I was trying to hit the good areas and did the basics right. This is the first game after sometime for me, once I got the first wicket, that built up some confidence and then kept on hitting the good areas," Vandersay said.

This was Jeffrey Vandersay's first ODI in over seven months. It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka chooses its Playing XI once Wanindu Hasaranga gets fit to play. But they will believe that it's a good problem to have.

The final ODI of the series will be played on August 7 at Colombo. Sri Lanka are 1-0 ahead and India will need to show some character to level the series. The approach of the Indian batters on spin-friendly surfaces has been seriously tested in the ODI series and the batters are likely to go through the same test in the third match as well.