Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup Selection Strategy Unveiled
Upul Tharanga, Sri Lanka’s Chief Selector, has disclosed that the team will prioritize experience over youth in their selection for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The 2014 T20 World Cup victors surprised many recently by recalling seasoned wicket-keeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella for their current T20I series against Bangladesh. Tharanga hinted that this trend is likely to continue in the lead-up to this year’s 20-over spectacle in the USA and the Caribbean in June.
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This strategy implies that young talents such as left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, and Shevon Daniel may have to wait for more opportunities at the top level, Tharanga suggests.
“In T20s we need a wicket-taking option, which is why we opted for Jeffrey (Vandersay) over someone like Dunith (Wellalage),” Tharanga explained.
“Jeffrey, we felt, is more of an attacking bowler in T20s. We had a lengthy discussion about Viyaskanth and Jeffrey, and the selection committee had differing opinions. However, we chose Jeffrey in the end due to the upcoming (T20) World Cup and doubts about Viyaskanth’s readiness to play in a (T20) World Cup. Hence, we opted for Jeffrey and his experience.”
“We were searching for a top-order player (due to injuries to Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera). We considered Shevon Daniel, Lasith Croospulle, and Dikka (Dickwella), but the first two are still quite young. It was challenging to select them based solely on their recent performances.”
Emerging all-rounder Dunith Wellalage on his journey from Sri Lanka U19 captain to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Tharanga highlighted Daniel as a future star for Sri Lanka, stating that the teenager’s time to showcase his skills and add to his two white-ball matches for his country will come.
“They’re very talented cricketers, someone like Shevon can play for 10 to 15 years for Sri Lanka,” Tharanga observed.
“Do we thrust a player like that into a challenging situation? Or do we hold him back, let him play in the NSL (Sri Lanka domestic competition), gain experience, and then introduce him to the side.”
“We consulted with the captain and the coach, and they also felt that Niroshan Dickwella was the best option at this time because his experience will be beneficial heading into a (T20) World Cup.”