Sri Lankan Chief Selector explains omission of Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas from World Cup squad
Former Sri Lankan captain and Chief selector Aravinda De Silva has defended the decision made by his selection committee of dropping veterans Sanath Jayasuriya and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Chaminda-Vaas-c1223 from the World Cup squad for the premier ODI tournament set
to start from next month.
De Silva who was the hero of the sole Sri Lankan triumph of 1996 claimed that the two could not make it to the team as there were plenty of youngsters around who had done remarkably well forcing the two stalwarts who were a part of the
1996 squad out of the team for 2011.
Jayasuriya and Vaas both took part in the last World Cup held in the Caribbean four years ago, since then they have tapered off and have both quit the test format.
Jayasuriya played in the 2010 T20 World Championship in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 while Vaas has not played an international game since August 2008, the talent and depth of the current squad meant that the two missed out on selection despite trying
their hardest to make an impression on the selectors.
"We were not going to waver from that and looking at individuals as such because we wanted the best team to ultimately go out there and represent the 20 million people in Sri Lanka," De Silva said yesterday. "That was the only reason why
they were left out. Unfortunately not only them but it was a very hard decision and emotional thing for the four selectors also to leave out two great cricketers like that as they would have been looking forward to saying goodbye after a World Cup. But that's
how life is. To be fair by everyone, those two cricketers have done so much for Sri Lanka cricket and we can never forget that."
De Silva added that the decision of playing cricket was one that the duo had to make on its own as the Sri Lankan Board can not influence players to quit the game "I guess they have got a great future ahead to contribute towards http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758
cricket and I hope they will do so. Through their experiences I am sure they will come back and help Sri Lanka cricket in the future. But if they want to continue playing they are most welcome to do so. I am not the one to decide when they are going to finish
their careers."
Another surprising omission in the Sri Lankan team is Suraj Randiv, the off-spinner who has done really well since first appearing at the highest level last year, De Silva acknowledged that it was difficult to leave him out of the team
yet it had to be done to balance the team that also includes the man with the most wickets in the test and ODI formats http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157.
"At the same time, Suraj Randiv has not done anything wrong to be out of the squad but it was unfortunate because he didn't fit into the combinations which we needed in the 15. Those are the three guys whom I really feel for at this moment."
The Sri Lankans who are the co-hosts of the tournament are the only hosts to have won the tournament in the 36 year old history of the tournament, interestingly though, they hosted a mere two matches in the 1996 tournament which was mainly
hosted in India and Pakistan.
This time around they have been bracketed in Group A with heavyweights like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 if they clash with them
in the quarters, semis or make it to the final which is set to be played at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 on 2nd April.
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