Sri Lankan national all-rounder Dhananjaya De Silva has been named Sri Lanka ‘A’ team 50-over skipper for their tour versus the Australian ‘A’ starting this Wednesday. De Silva who failed to earn a place in the national T20 squad will, however play the two 50-over games along with Niroshan Dickwella who was also axed from the T20 side.
Oshada Fernando is also among the 20-players named for the two 50-over games.
In the meantime, for the four-dayer, his fellow national cap Kamindu Mendis has been entrusted with captaincy.
ODI badly needs Test class batters who have the right temperament and proper skills to survive under difficult circumstances. Mathews, Chandimal & RoshenS together with left-arm leggie MalindaP should be included in both ODIs & Tests. They have proven enough their credentials than any other in the country right now though have been continuously ignored by the management and selectors. Mathews’, Chandimal’s & Roshen’s skilful batting away from home under difficult circumstances in the Delhi Test in 2017 alone is enough to assess their suitability. Playing too many risky stroke-makers & all-rounders [neither proper bowlers nor batsmen] will spoil the soup. Our position in the ODI ranking definitely will go down. After all, a batsman or bowler can’t keep his confidence going in playing one format only. All these players I have mentioned above are outstanding players from a very young age.