Jagath Perera
Coming to the ODI side, there are some reports that Dimuth Karunaratne is now being considered for ODI captaincy. What’s your take on that?
I think it all depends on what SLC needs. I mean the Sri Lankan head coach Chandika Hathurusingha was asked to come back. So I am not sure, the thing is, lots of ifs and buts are happening at the moment. We are not sure what decisions have been made. If you look at how Sri Lanka’s performances in the ODIs, apart from Angelo Mathews, no one has batted for a long time. So I think, in my personal opinion, a player like Karunaratne, if he can come in as an opening batsman who could at least bat 30-35 overs with a decent strike rate, I think that’s what we want. But straight away coming and captaining a ODI side that you haven’t played (in) for four years, I don’t think should be the way forward. Coming in and captaining won’t be that easy. It’s a huge task you are asking from him. So it’s important to strike that balance. I feel like as a player, I would definitely like to have Karunaratne because he likes to bat (for a) long time. But definitely not as captain right now.