Selection of rugby captain Minister in the dark

Rugby circles are perturbed over the selection of Kandy SC’s Sean Wijesinghe as captain for the forthcoming Five Nations Rugby Tournament which begins on April 23. The National Selectors have reportedly not even informed the Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage over the selection of the Sri Lanka captain despite being nominees of the Minister.

Sri Lanka will take on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the first match of the tournament at the CR and FC ground in Longden Place.

In a surprising move the National Selection Committee headed by Michael Jayasekera has appointed Wijesinghe ahead of more senior players such as Radhika Hettiarachchi (Air Force SC), Dushanth Lewke (CR and FC), Ashen Karthelis (CR and FC) and Fazil Marija (Kandy SC). They feel that picking of Wijesinghe as captain will cause disunity among the Sri Lanka pool out of which the final squad will be picked on April 15. Sri Lanka who gained promotion to the Top Division by overcoming Singapore 23-16 in the Asian Division One tournament will confront United Arab Emirates (UAE) on April 23 in Colombo.

They will also take Hong Kong on May 7 in Colombo, Kazakhstan on May 14 in Kazakhstan and Japan on May 21 in Colombo.

The Secretary of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) Lasith Gunaratne said that the match between Japan was earlier scheduled to be played in Tokyo but was later shifted to Colombo due to the recent tsunami in Japan. It is also reported that over ten senior players have withdrawn from the national squad in protest over the appointment of the captain. The National Selection Committee comprise Michael Jayasekera (Chairman), Tikiri Marambe, Savantha de Saram, Pradeep Basnayake and Chandrishan Perera.

The Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage should look into the selection blunder and order the selectors to appoint a captain for this tournament on seniority and merit.

(C.D)