Jagath Perera
Upul Tharanga is one of Sri Lanka’s best left-handed batsmen. Since he made his debut in 2005, over the years, Tharanga has been a prolific opener for the National team. In 2017, he took over the captaincy, after Angelo Mathews abruptly stepped down.
He was among the top contenders for the 2019 World Cup (WC) squad in England, but unfortunately, his performances in the recent past have not been great and, as a result, he was excluded from the WC squad.
There’s no point in bringing Kapugedaras,Dhanushkas,Thirimanas or any other back. It would do a world of good if those opportunities were given to outstanding youngsters such as Nipun Dhananjaya,Kamil Mishara, …those who have passed their Cricket Advanced Level with highest grades [ as it happened with Kholi, Williamson,Root,MusfiquerRahim ] without ruining their careers as in the case of other great talents [ Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Ian Daniel, Roshen Silva, Chandimal, Asela Gunarathna, Bhanuka Rajapaksha,Romesh Buddhika, Sachithra Serasinghe,ShehanJayasuriya, Sadeera, PriyamalPerera,Angelo Perera,…. list is very long ] produced by our school, in always trying to field henchmen instead, whose parents that always go after politicians. There’s no way of fielding henchmen at National level if we are to be successful and competed well at the international arena. We need Test-class, complete batters to play 50-over matches. The team sent to the WC is good for playing T20s rather than for 50-overs. The Administrators that consider Domestic Tournaments for our youngsters aren’t an important factor for the development of Cricket and the incompetent selectors are the main cause of our decline in Cricket in last 20 years.
Before we get in to the Tharanga debate all over again, lets first agree if he will be around to play the next WC and if not, end of discussion. If he is, there is a case to consider given it will be on flat tracks in India where Upul can be a factor.
After this WC, SLC should not look back at these older players, like Tharanga and Chandimal, they must look to the future. The priority should be given to youngsters. The youngsters should be given at least 2 years in the team to showcase their talent and performance, if they fail to do so then you can start looking back at these older players, but other than that, I dont want to see Tharanga or Chandimal in the ODI side anymore