|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 13 October 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Sports | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Mubarak for Pakistan Tests? The 15-member Sri Lanka team currently engaged in the tri-nation one-day PakTel Cup tournament in Pakistan is expected to undergo changes for the upcoming two Tests against the host country starting on October 20 at Faisalabad and on October 28 at Karachi. Batsmen Tilan Samaraweera, Ian Daniel and Jehan Mubarak and wicket-keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana are tipped to make the Test squad replacing one-day cricketers Avishka Gunawardena, Saman Jayantha and Thilina Kandamby. Samaraweera and Kaluwitharana pick themselves automatically while Daniel and Mubarak have done enough with the Sri Lanka 'A' teams to convince the selectors that they can no longer be cold shouldered or kept shelved for too long. Why the selectors keep persisting with Gunawardena as an opener despite his constant failures in the abbreviated game defies logic. His limited strokes and lack of footwork does not make him an ideal player for the big occasion and the selectors by now should have come to realise that there is no future in pursuing with players of his type. Why Kandamby is being persisted ahead of such a talented player like Mubarak is also questionable. Mubarak is a free scoring batsman in the David Gower mould and should by now have made it to the brittle Sri Lankan middle-order. He is also a brilliant field. Jayantha despite making a belated entry into international cricket at the age of 30, is more a free scoring batsman than Gunawardena and he can bowl spin as well. Being right-handed provides an ideal foil to the left-handed Sanath Jayasuriya in the one-day game. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga is also a strong contender for a place in the Test squad but the question is at whose expense? Of the four seamers in the current squad Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof have been bowling exceptionally well. Nuwan Zoysa is the exception because of his poor fielding and catching. It will be a toss up between Zoysa and leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi. - [S.T.] |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
