In long term goals, rather than to focus on winning the matches, building a team for the future seems more logical thing. Sri Lanka team for first ODI today gives an indication that new selectors are bold enough to take Sri Lanka cricket forward.
Sri Lanka picked Six Specialist Batsmen, One allrounder and four Specialist bowlers! Indeed, this is a brave move.
During the Sanath Jayasuriya era, it was evident that he was hopelessly clueless. Most of the times the ODI teams, selected by him, were unbalanced. The sole reason was that he was notorious for selecting players, who were neither specialist batsmen nor Specialist bowlers. They were just bits and pieces type of players, like Seekuge Prasanna, Ishuru Udana etc.
The New selection committee, led by Graeme Labrooy, looks more visionary! Out of the Six specialist batsmen they selected for today’s match, Kusal Mendis and Milinda Siriwardena also can bowl few overs of spin.
Thisara Perera is ideal for allrounder slot, capable of bowling 7-8 overs and can play quickfire cameos in the end. When The likes of Angelo Mathews and Asela Gunaratne will be available for the selection after fully recovered from their injuries, the ODI team can become one of the strongest unit in shorter formats.
Then, there are four specialist bowler to bowl their full quota.
Again, win or loss doesn’t matter. But, at last, Sri Lanka started to think innovative and bold in the approach!
