The limited-overs leg of the Sri Lanka tour of British Isles 2016 commences today with the start of the two-match series against Ireland.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has not yet officially announced the final 16-man squad to the media but only sent the names of the five ODI specialists who were flown to the United Kingdom last week.
We take a closer look at five key players who missed out on selection, apart from the injured trio, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera and Jeffery Vandersay, along with Tillakarathne Dilshan who opted out due to personal reasons.
The unluckiest player out of the lot to return home after the conclusion of the Test series, Siriwardene was left-out of the 3rd Test at Lord’s due to an ankle injury but is reportedly fit for the ODIs. He made a bright start to his ODI career in 2015 when he averaged 29.11 with the bat and 30.50 with the ball. He was also the highest run-scorer for Sri Lanka in their last ODI assignment in New Zealand, scoring 117 runs in 3 innings with an average of 39.
His ability to pick up wickets out of nowhere would be dearly missed by Mathews and his prowess of clearing the ropes is another key skill but his omission from the squad remains a huge question to all cricket fans.
Once the world’s number one ODI bowler and a long-standing member of the Sri Lanka ODI and T20 squads, ‘Kule’ announced his retirement from Test cricket, days before the ODI squad was finalized by the selectors, citing his desire to play only the T20s and ODIs. His form has dipped drastically in the past three years; he has taken only 50 wickets in 47 matches and his inability to find his usual swing and seam has been a major concern.
He was the highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka against New Zealand, with 4 wickets from 5 games but took a massive beating, leaking more than 6 runs per over. He could have been an asset for the Lankans in seamer-friendly English conditions but his future remains in the balance with this exclusion.
The Sri Lankan ‘Iron Man’ had won many matches for Sri Lanka in the past and his 9 man-of-the-match awards are proof of his ability, but his inability to reprise those consistent performances has forced the selectors to drop him even though he still remains a potent match-winner with both bat and ball.
He averages only 17.32 with the bat in ODIs after 110 games and has taken only 29 scalps in 34 games in the past 24 months. He was the only Sri Lankan to participate in the Indian Premier League 2016 and will try to regain his place when he tours England with the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team.
Chamara Kapugedara
Returning to the Sri Lanka limited-overs scene after a lapse of 3 years last year, Kapugedara made a few noteworthy contributions in the T20 format playing 15 matches and scoring 259 runs at an average of 23.54 but failed to make waves in the 5-match ODI series against New Zealand last year.
He was only able to muster 30 runs in 3 innings with a best of 12 but the critics blamed the team management, citing that Kapu’s batting position was too low in the order. Him playing as a pure batsman may have hampered his chances of being selected as he was not picked for the Sri Lanka ‘A’ tour either.
The 31-year old off-spinner was one of the key members in the Sri Lanka T20 triumph in 2014 but after he remodelled his bowling action, the effectiveness of his bowling plummeted. Senanayake played only one game in New Zealand where he bowled 2.2 overs and gave away 22 runs in the 2nd ODI in Christchurch.
Before he returned to international cricket in December, 2014, Senanayake had 53 ODI wickets in 49 matches but since the return, he was only able to play 12 games and take 13 wickets.
With no domestic cricket scheduled for the next five months in Sri Lanka, these five players will have little to no opportunity to prove themselves in order to make it into the team for the upcoming tours. Will these players return to the Sri Lanka ODI team this year? Only time will tell.
