Saturday Nov 29, 2025
Saturday Nov 29, 2025
Friday, 31 October 2025 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The national cricket selection committee (from right): Indika de Saram, Dilruwan Perera, Upul Tharanga (Chairman), Ajantha Mendis, and Tharanga Paranavitana
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Picking the Sri Lanka ODI and T20I squads for the tour to Pakistan next month was the final task of the four-member cricket selection committee headed by Upul Tharanga whose two-year term will come to an end in December.
After Pakistan, Sri Lanka don’t have any international fixtures till January when Pakistan is due for an ODI and T20I series followed by England for a similar series and then the ICC T20 World Cup in February-March. The teams for these matches will be selected by a new selection committee or by the same committee if they are retained.
Looking back on the two years they have been serving as national selectors, Tharanga said, “I won’t say that we were 100% in our selections but it was a mixed performance. I think we have built a foundation by giving players opportunities and a stable team.”
“We tried as much as possible to give players opportunities without making any big changes to build their trust. In certain areas we couldn’t do it but if you take the overall percentage I think we were successful with the exception of one or two cases.”
It was the Tharanga-led committee comprising Ajantha Mendis, Tharanga Paranavithana, Indika de Saram and Dilruwan Perera (resigned after one year) that appointed Charith Asalanka captain of the two white ball sides – ODI and T20I that has brought about a revival in the team’s performances.
“We appointed Wanindu (Hasaranga) as T20I captain but after the 2023 Cricket World Cup we selected Charith as captain for both ODIs and T20Is. I think the appointments were successful,” said Tharanga. “If you take the ODIs we were ranked somewhere 9th or 10th after the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Today we are ranked no. 4. Charith has led the side well. It is only in the T20I format that we could not come up to the expected level. We are still ranked no. 8. We are a team that is capable of improving from that position. It is only small mistakes that need to be rectified.”
“We are okay in the Test matches, there is a vast improvement in the ODIs. T20I is the only format we could not improve as a team. We can’t make big changes to the T20I side but there are areas which we need to resolve. We have a good team and with the T20 World Cup going to be held in Sri Lanka (and India) it’s a good opportunity for us. We have to improve our consistency.”
Whether the Tharanga-led selection committee deserves another two-year term is left to the stakeholders of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the Sports Minister. If they have faith in this committee they can always reappoint them.
