In the coming hours, Sri Lanka’s national selectors are expected to reveal their hand, offering the clearest indication yet of how they plan to navigate the post-Angelo Mathews era. With the former Test captain hanging up his boots, there’s a gaping hole in the middle order – one that’s not just about runs but also about experience, composure, and nous.
Big boots are there to be filled and the race to slip into them has narrowed down to a trio of prolific run-makers from the domestic circuit – Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Sonal Dinusha, and Pawan Rathnayake. All three have been churning out runs by the bucketload and the selectors have a classic selection headache on their hands.
The man at the helm, Upul Tharanga, has earned praise for his transparency, consistency and no-favourites approach – traits that have earned buy-in from most cricketing stakeholders. His challenge now is to balance the future with the immediate demands of a team desperate to arrest its slide in red-ball cricket.
The Galle Test already offered a glimpse into this new selection dynamic. With Dimuth Karunaratne’s retirement opening up a slot at the top, selectors faced a toss-up between the tried-and-tested Oshada Fernando (22 caps) and the in-form Lahiru Udara, who has bossed the domestic run charts over the last few seasons. They threw their lot with Udara, who oozed class and elegance, matching Pathum Nissanka stroke for stroke. Those straight drives were a treat to watch indeed. However, a couple of costly drops in the field reminded all that Test cricket demands the full package, not just flair with the willow.
Elsewhere, the spotlight is back on Prabath Jayasuriya. The left-arm spinner, once seen as Sri Lanka’s golden arm, seems to have hit a dry patch. The zip and venom that defined his early burst have deserted him, and oppositions appear to have figured him out. With little variation in his armoury, he’s begun to look pedestrian.
The writing was on the wall during SSC’s forgettable season, which ended in relegation from First-Class cricket. His struggles continued in the National Super League and the Galle Test only reinforced the fact that form, not reputation, should dictate selection. Ideally, the selectors would throw him a longer rope, given his reliability in the past – but with the SSC Test traditionally favouring seam and Sri Lanka likely to go in with three quicks, Jayasuriya could find himself on the wrong side of the final XI. It’s shaping up to be a Hobson’s choice.
As for the Galle Test itself, it was far from a walk in the park. Sri Lanka haven’t won a Test match in a while – their last five results read four losses and a draw. They nearly fluffed their lines again before Bangladesh bailed them out with a puzzlingly late declaration.
On a rain-hit final day, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto held his horses when he should have thrown the kitchen sink. With a 251-run lead and 50 overs in the bank, many expected a bold call. Instead, Shanto played it safe, declaring with only 37 overs remaining – just enough time to rattle Sri Lanka’s top order but not quite enough to seal the deal.
Anyone familiar with Sri Lanka’s recent woes under pressure will tell you they were ripe for the taking. But Shanto, chasing a rare feat – twin centuries in a Test for the second time – put personal glory ahead of team success. Only 14 men in the game’s history have done it twice and Shanto had already ticked the box once before, against Afghanistan in 2023.
The timing of the declaration hinted at a player caught in two minds. Fearing criticism for pulling the plug right after his milestone, Shanto dragged things out by a few more overs, perhaps to add a cushion of runs – but the damage was done. It wasn’t smart Test match cricket. Not by a long shot.
Form, too, hadn’t been on his side. His last Test ton came in November 2023. Fellow senior pro Mushfiqur Rahim was also under the scanner, having gone 13 innings without a half-century. His dream of becoming the first Bangladeshi to play 100 Tests looked to be fading fast. But on a flat Galle deck and against an uninspired Sri Lankan attack that lacked bite, both batters cashed in.
As the action shifts to Colombo, the spotlight will remain firmly on selection calls, bowling combinations, and how Sri Lanka manages the weight of expectation at home.
