Tough to axe Sri Lanka team-mates, says Aravinda
Sri Lanka's chief selector Aravinda de Silva has spoken of his tough
decision in omitting fellow 1996 World Cup winners Sanath Jayasuriya and
Chaminda Vaas from the squad.
All three players were in the team that beat Australia to lift the
trophy for the first time in Pakistan 15 years ago but de Silva said he
could not justify including the two veterans in the 15-man squad for the
2011 tournament.
"It was a very difficult decision and a very emotional moment for me
when it was decided that Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas have to be
left out from the World Cup squad," he wrote in the Times of India.
"They've been my team-mates for such a long (time) and they are such
fabulous players with great records.
"But at the end of the day, as a selector, I have to do the right
thing. I have to pick 15 of the best available players on current form.
Taking that into account, I don't think it would have been possible to
include them."
Hard-hitting batsman Jayasuriya, 41, has notched 13,428 runs and
taken 322 wickets in 444 one-day internationals but last played in an
ODI in 2009.
Left-arm paceman Vaas, 37, has taken 400 wickets in 322 one-day
internationals, last appearing in 2008.
Both players were included in Sri Lanka's preliminary 30-man squad
for the World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which starts on
Saturday.
NEW DELHI, AFP |