Mahela Jayawardena was unarguably one of the greatest captain of his time! A man, who reads the game more precisely than anyone else, Mahela stamped his authority as a shrewd strategist. The testimony of his calibre as that even one of the World’s richest person Mukesh Ambani hired him as head coach of Mumbai Indians- most expensive team in Indian Premier League (IPL). His opinion has always been widely accepted and admired in the cricket fraternity.
However, even Mahela had to surrender against a clueless and biased Asantha De Mel- Chairman of selection committee of Sri Lanka- over the snub of dynamic Kusal Perera from the test squad against Zimbabwe.
On Tuesday, Sri Lanka announced 15-member squad, as fast bowler Suranga Lakmal was included after recovering from dengue. The surprise move, however, was to drop Kusal Perera, who just one year ago had played the greatest innings of all time in test cricket history, against South Africa in Durban.
Mahela, an admirer of Kusal’s match winning ability, couldn’t resist to express shock over this illogical exclusion.
“Wasn’t he the same player who won the test match in Durban single handedly 12 months ago? He has only played 3 test matches (5 Innings) since then” a surprised Mahela Jayawardana posted on his twitter handle.
Only few hours later, however, Asantha De Mel came out with one of the most bizarre explanation on Kusal’s absence from Zimbabwe tour.
“Yes, Kusal can make 150s, but we needed someone who can occupy the crease, which is why we Chose Thirimane” Asantha explained Kusal’s omission.
Obiously, the logic was that much pathetic, that even Mahela felt it’s an insult to keep continue with his view. There is an old adage that when fools speaks, the wiser must keep silent. Mahela did exactly the same.
‘I rest my case’ Mahela posted on his twitter handle after seeing Asantha De Mel’s View on Kusal’s omission.
