Cricket selection committee chairman Sanath Jayasuriya says the best and balanced squad has been chosen for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup, and Royal College all rounder Hashen Ramanayake deserves his place in the side.
The 15-member squad for the Youth World Cup to be played in the UAE from February 14 to March 1 was selected early this week. However, Jayasuriya and the fellow selectors were criticized for including Ramanayake, son of former Sri Lanka fast bowler Champaka Ramanayake, in the squad.
“We have selected the best, balanced squad for the Under-19 World Cup. We (national selection panel) sat with the junior selection panel and picked the best available players,” Jayasuriya told Ceylon Today yesterday.
“Hashen is a player who has done well as a batting all rounder. In a trial match he even scored a century. He deserves his place. A player’s father can be an ex-cricketer, but if that player is talented he deserves his place in the team.”
Ramanayake was not picked for the Under-19 Asia Cup played recently in the UAE, where the Sri Lankan juniors lost to Afghanistan before losing to eventual champions India in the semifinals.
Along with Ramanayake, the selectors have included a pair of youngsters who were not in the 20-member pool, into the tour party.
“We tried out a few players during the Asia Cup. As selectors we were not impressed with their performances, so we have brought in other talented players into the squad. Hopefully they would do well in the World Cup,” Jayasuriya said.
Selecting Under-19 teams has always been contentious.
“The hardest thing to do is selecting the Under- 19 team. Always there are unhappy parties. But here I can say the selectors have done a good job by picking the right players,” Jayasuriya said.
Ramanayake is Royal’s number four batsman and he made headlines last year when he hit 116 runs against S. Thomas’ in their annual limited overs match. It was a record innings as it was the highest individual score in the series which is over 40 years. In the past school season the right-handed batsman scored over 850 runs. He also returned decent figures as a right-arm medium paceman.
He notched up a century in a trial match just before the Asia Cup. In between, he made a fine century for Moratuwa SC in a Sara Trophy match against Kandy CC.
“Hashen is the best all rounder we have in Royal,” said Dilip Somaratne, Royal’s coach.
“As his coach I know how talented he is – he is a very good batsman and a fine fast bowler.
“There are enough coaches and selectors to decide if he is good to play for Sri Lanka. We at Royal College are delighted to hear that he has been selected.”
