By : Samatha Hewabandulla
Looking at the latest performances by the Sri Lanka T 20 Cricket team against the Visiting Australian team, Sri Lanka players performances in the 1st T20 and the match last night which Australia won by 3 wickets, have not been up to expectations.
In such a scenario thesundyreader.lk sports correspondent spoke to the former Test Opener Sidath Wettimuny and inquired about the performances and the selections. ” the selections are not bad but when players are not doing well they must give chances to someone else whom the selectors see as good so that its an opportunity for such players to perform. Most of our young players need more experience. Having said that , we cannot have players being changed every now and then as we need to focus on the next World Cup and build to be able to have a consistent performances” said Wettimuny.
Wettimuny went on to say “Looking at our your players , they are good but they need to be made fit mentally too so that they stand up to the challenges as they are our future. If we look at Kusal Mendis , he is a great player and an excellent Cricketer who can win matches for Sri Lanka and hence we need to make him have that self confidence to execute what is expected in the middle. I see him as an unlucky cricketer too. We need to understand that Sri Lanka are up against one of the best T 20 teams in the world”.
When inquired about Bhanuka Rajapaksa Mr Wettimuny said ” he is a good player but there is a question mark about his technique and we need to look at ways of handing that so that we ensure such does not come in-between his performances. If such can be sorted I am sure he will do well for his country. We have seen him perform well in patches but consistency is a key when it comes to international Cricket. We can take lesions from this Australian Team as you can see how they fight till the last ball and the never give up attitude. Our players are talented and its a case of how we manage and groom them to perform at the highest level that will see us through ” said the former Test great.
