One bad egg

"The blasphemy of the selectors is that their second choices are substandard, yet they are very reluctant to admit the fact and bring in remedial measures. Even during the Test series against Bangladesh there were rumours about Sanath playing the last few Test matches and the selectors being ready to make the request from him? Then came the question about Chaminda Vaas’ ability to lead the Lankan seam attack, but he proved them wrong with a splendid spell in the final Test match.

It surfaced again till he shut them up even for the time being with his “my arm will provide you with the answers” attitude against England. What a difference it made to see T.M. Dilshan in that number six slot. When he walked on to the wicket with the Sri Lankan batting hanging on a tentative 138 for 4 with the English bowlers wagging with their tails up, Dilshan took the fight to them, made them err and then put the Lankan innings on course along with his skipper Mahela Jayawardena who came up with yet another gem of an effort. To cap his effort with the bat Dilshan then took the second English wicket when he tolled Bell run out with a direct throw. With his demise England once again proved the domino theory.

Coming back to the selectors now more than often they tend to put their foot in the mouth by making the wrong choices. What the country needs now is the inclusion of players who will perform there out in the middle on a regular basis and may be with a good track record, but not so-and-so’s relation coming from the same school that so-and-so went to." writes - S.R.Pathiravithana for The Sunday Times