Jayawardene: Ranatunga's take on IPL is his own

New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene yesterday brushed off former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga's take on the Indian Premier League (IPL) as being his own opinion.

Ranatunga this week told Gulf News he blamed the Indian cricket board for "harming the game" through the IPL and said it would produce butchers instead of better Test players.

Ranatunga blamed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for India's slide in Test arena.

"It is his own opinion. I don't think he [Ranatunga] has been a great fan of IPL. It is completely his opinion, there are other greats who like the version. There are many who believe that cricketers have improved their game," Jayawardene told reporters.

Jayawardene cited the example of India's budding all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Australian David Warner, for IPL being a great platform for youngsters to get into the national side.

The Sri Lankan captain spoke about how he had to make changes in his own game to be successful in the shortest format of the game.

"I had to improve my game. I had to be innovative which has helped my one day game as well, I started opening the batting. Even in Test cricket, batsmen are scoring runs quickly," he said.