Hashan Tillakaratne, Former Test specialist With a defensive mind set, has been appointed as the U19 Team Coach To Sharpen the younger generation in this T20 Era, Cricket Age reliably learns.
More importantly, during the last few days of its tenure, Thilanga Sumathipala led administration has appointed him for the next two years, for a staggering salary package of 5.50 Lakh Per Month.
After Sri Lanka U19 Team’s Poor showing in Youth World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, SLC didn’t extend Roy Dias contract and advertised for his successor.
However, Tillakaratne’s appointment is mysterious, given the fact that neither he applied for the post nor being interviewed.
On of the most defensive batsman of his time, Tillakaratne has long been trying to establish himself as the Coach in Sri Lanka setup without any success. In July 2017, he had been appointed as the temporary batting Coach of Sri Lanka national team for the home test series against India.
Though, in this T20 era, he couldn’t make any kind of impact on players technique and mindset, as Sri Lanka suffered whitewash against India. Later, SLC decided to replace him with Thilan Samaraweera as the batting Coach of the national team.
Apart from being ineffective for the national players as batting Coach, his tactics has also been questionable. In the ongoing Super Provincial 50 Overs Tournament (Ongoing, because final still hasn’t been played due to unpredictable weather and SLC), he has appointed as the Coach of the Galle Team.
In that tournament, he kept Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Lahiru Milantha on bench, Who are top order batsmen, and instead mysteriously Picked Ramith Rambukwella as an opener for six consecutive matches. Interestingly, In Sri Lanka Cricket circuit, Ramith has been considered as lower order batsman, most suitable for number 7.
