When Sri Lanka Cricket fans started to mourn the axing of Young batting prodigy Kusal Mendis from the test squad against India, Chairman of Selectors Graeme Labrooy and his Co Selectors didn’t take too much time to clear the Concerns.
“He is a confident player. For him Confidence is everything. He has got everything in his armory. We don’t want a situation where he played two more innings, gets two low scores and then drop him and destroy his confidence further. He has got age on his side and we want him to go onto become one of the greatest of the game. We want him to play for another ten years” Chief Selector Graeme Labrooy cleared all the doubts about dropping of Mendis from the squad by saying this to media.
Not only on Mendis, Labrooy and Co. Cleared all doubts about the non-selection of Opener Kaushal Silva and Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep as well. Selectors made it clear that though Silva has shown great character as a player, his main task is to make runs, and he failed to do so at given chances. On Nuwan Pradeep, meanwhile, Selectors view were Spot On.
“We did a study of Nuwan and feels that he can hit take much of the work load. He gives 100 percent all the time, as a result his body can take only one match” explained Laboory.
The above Views of Selectors, about every particular player, shows that they are Open to talk about their decisions publicly. They are ready to clear doubts of the cricket fans. Unlike previous Selection committee, They are not mad after Selfies, media briefings. Instead, they want and are committed to move Sri Lanka cricket forward!
Most importantly, they are brave in their approach. And they have shown a Vision in their decisions as well. The dropping of Kusal Mendis doesn’t present a dark picture, instead it shows how to handle a young batting prodigy. India is One of the toughest place to play cricket, with packed stadiums, and unmatchable media coverage. Another failure in this sort of pressure could have ruined Kusal Mendis forever, and best thing for him right now is to keep away from the limelight and media pressure for a while.
Previous Selection committee was notorious for mysterious selections. Roshen Silva was nothing less than a run machine for Sri Lanka in domestic cricket, with A teams in last two years. But, he is yet to make his international debut, though he has regularly been part of the squad, since historic test series against Australia in 2016.
Now, finally, Laboory led selection committee gives hope that The Mr. Consistent Roshen Silva will get his much deserved chance in near future.
Moreover, Unlike previous committee, they have given a belief to emerging players that whoever will pile runs in domestic Cricket or With A team, Will be selected for the national team. Selection of Dhananjaya De Silva and Dasun Shanaka are classic example of this policy. Though both players made sensational Debut in their careers, previous selection committee
Ignored them, and pushed them to wilderness.
Though, Dhananjaya and Dasun were making runs during previous committee tenure too, but those runs were not enough for them to regain their spot into the team, somehow.
Laboory and Co. have successfully broken that strange, mysterious policy.
Prior to the selection of the test squad, Dhananjaya and Dasun both were in West Indies, representing Sri Lanka A. Dhananjaya was the highest run scorer of the three match unofficial test series, while Dasun smashed a whirlwind century in the second test. Laboory and Co. recognized their performances and now both they are in India, in the test squad!
That’s what cricket fans expect from the selectors. That’s what Players expect from the selectors.
No direct entry for a Minister Son. No silver spoon for a Son of any powerful cricket administrator. Only those, who will perform at domestic level, Will get a chance to represent Sri Lanka! Just within Two months, Laboory and Co. have managed to give the hope to the Cricket mad Island that there will be no baised selection!
Though, their critics, who were miserable failures during their time, Will point out even after this.
For example, why Lahiru Thirimane is in the test squad?
However, they can’t name a single player, who could have replaced Thirimane in the squad. Mendis needs to be away form the limelight for a while. Asela Gunaratne and Kusal Perera are still not ready to be included. Roshen Silva and Sadeera Samarawickrama are already in the squad. Kaushal Silva needed to be dropped.
So, Thirimane, though he is an epic failure in the test cricket so far in his career, deserves at least one more chance, particularly as his recent form in ODI cricket gives a hope against hope that he could finally come good for Sri Lanka!
That’s why, this selection committee, led by Graeme Labrooy, deserves full marks for their brave approach, bold selections. After disastrous three years or so, now Sri Lanka cricket has finally blessed with a set of selectors, who gives hope for a good cricketing future for Sri Lanka!
