The maiden press conference of the newly appointed National Cricket Selection Committee was held at the Sports Ministry Auditorium this morning to announce the overnight changes in the Sri Lanka T20 squad for the ICC World T20 2016 in India.
In a press release made announcing the names of the newly appointed Selection Committee members it was stated that they would serve for a period of two years. However, during the Press Conference, it was stated that they will only remain until the 30th of April, “I was in Bangladesh to present an award in the Asia Cup and was then invited to talk to the Sri Lanka team and motivate them. I have never seen a national team so down in confidence during a tournament, so I could not turn down the request made by our Sports Minister to help the team. I spoke to Sanga and Mahela and asked them to come back and help the team until the 30th of April but Mahela had already had some commitments. “, Aravinda De Silva, the new Chief Selector spoke on his sudden appointment.
Photo Album – Announcement of the new National Cricket Selection Committee
The appointment of a new selection panel is effectively an emergency, short-term measure, as the board was not happy with the World T20 selections put forward by the previous committee, “The previous selection committee wanted to appoint Chandimal as the captain with the injury to Malinga instead of Mathews but earlier we had decided to appoint Mathews in case Malinga did not recover. They also wanted to remove Malinga entirely from the squad but we all know that Malinga is our best T20 bowler, we want him to take part in the World T20 at any possible moment, but only as a player, as per his request. “ Thilanga Sumathipala said regarding the sudden changes in Sri Lanka Cricket.
“Mental stability is very important ahead of a World Cup. As a team and the selectors, we need to concentrate on working as one team in order to win the tournament. I think all we have to realize is that at the end of the day, you can be the best selection committee in the world and best players in the world but, it is a matter of informed opinion and sometimes the gut call to know who the best players are and what the best combinations are.” Batting legend, Kumar Sangakkara shared his first words as a national selector.
