While Sri Lankan cricket team is continuously struggling to perform consistently in the recent international cricket, former Sri Lankan captain Aravinda de Silva claimed that all-rounder Angelo Mathews and veteran cricketer Dinesh Chandimal will be the key players for Sri Lanka’s success in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Sri Lankan cricket team is struggling very much with their inconsistent form. The lack of international cricket experiences for the most players is also one big factor Sri Lanka’s current poor form. In the ongoing T20I tri-series Nidahas Trophy hosts Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the final.
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Former Sri Lankan captain Aravinda de Silva is still hopeful with the Sri Lankan team for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. But he also mentioned that Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal have to take major responsibility to achieve the success in the upcoming cricket WC.
Talking about them, de Silva told to AFP, “I think Angelo is probably the most capable all-rounder of the side and also has a good cricketing brain along with Chandimal.”
The former world winning player for Sri Lanka (1996) has also claimed that the captaincy doesn’t make any difference. He quoted, “It doesn’t matter (if) you are captain or a normal player as you put in the same kind of effort.”
Angelo Matthews is Sri Lanka’s present limited-over captain while Dinesh Chandimal is the present Test captain of Sri Lankan cricket team.
Since last December, Chandika Hathurusingha took the charge of head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team. Aravinda de Silva believes that Hathurusingha probably the best coach for the current situation as he said, “He is probably the best… plainly because of the fact that he can relate to the players far better and the players can also relate to him. There is no language or a culture barrier and… it helps because they can voice their opinion.”
While Sri Lankan sports minister recently accused the national cricketer of being too fat, de Silva believes the Sri Lankan cricketers are fit and improving. He said, “I think they are playing better cricket now. I hope with a little more exposure and experience they will start doing well as a young new team.”
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Aravinda de Silva also praised the 27-years old left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera, who is currently in the great form. In the Nidahas Trophy, Kusal Perera played four matches and scored 204 runs (average 51.00) including three half-centuries.
Talking about Kusal Perera, de Silva said, “I see a lot of Sanath (Jayasuriya) in him and I think it is a crime to leave a guy like him out of the Test team.”
Aravinda de Silva also believes that T20 cricket helps to improve the stroke play. He commented on that, “Attacking cricket is always good and I think T20 has enhanced the repertoire of stroke play.”
