Page 16 - THE SUNRISE RECORDS.cdr

25.05.2021 / TUESDAY VOLUME01/ EST.2021 16

I
n Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua,
there was a match between West Indies and
Sri Lanka. The West Indies won the toss
elected to field in the second one day Interna-
Sri Lanka’s premier tional (ODI) against an Second one.
Twenty20 player and
Skipper Lasith Malinga
is battling against time
to be selected for the
ICC T20 World Cup to
be held in India later
this year.

The 37-year-old ace
pace man has not figured in any competitive
cricket for the last one and a half years and his Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon has renewed the
chance of playing in the mega event looks bleak 100m national record with a timing of 10.15
especially keeping in line with the new selec- seconds and finished 2nd in the Meeting di Sa-
tion policy.The newly appointed three-member Devap- vona Championship in Italy.
National Selection Committee headed by The Italy based Sri Lankan sprinter had estab-
Pramodya Wickremasinghe has indicated their athiraja girls lished a new South Asian and a national men’s
strict policy in selecting players for the national 100m record with a timing of 10.16 (+0.4)secs
team.“We know he is the best T20 player and at an international meet in Dessau/Germany in
his services are always very important. But all September last year.
players are equal for us and we apply the same win inter-
guidelines in selections,” Wickremasinghe told
School u – 19
the Daily News yesterday.
“I spoke with Lasith Malinga and asked him if
he is hoping to play in the T20 World Cup this
year. He told me that he hasn’t played competi- Cricket title
tive cricket in about one and a half years.”

“I later explained to him our selection policies. I for Sixth con-
told him that to be eligible for selection, players
must pass the 2km-run in eight minutes and 30
seconds. Also, the skinfold test should be 85.5,” secutive year
he explained.
“I also told him that one should also be playing
domestic cricket to be eligible for national se-
Devapathiraja College, Rathgama
lection. If Malinga can fulfil all these require-
ments, we will consider him for selection at that won the Championship again for the Sixth time.
time,” he stressed. It was an unimaginable Victory. It was an under
- 19 girls inter school cricket tournament con-
“Another thing that I explained to him is our
policy of giving more chances to the younger ducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Asso-
players.”“Malinga appreciated our selection ciation (SISCA) under the auspices of Sri Lanka
policies and asked me to continue with them. Cricket (SLC) at Bloomfield grounds Colombo
However, Malinga did not give a clear response on Friday (30 April)
whether he intends playing in the T20 World
Cup or not.”

“We introduced this new selection policy before
the Bangladesh tour to focus on the 2023 ICC
limited over Cricket World Cup,” he elaborat-
ed.“We all know about our national team rank-
ings and in all three formats, they are far below.
So, we want to build up the team step-by-step
and to move ahead with this new-look team.”

“Everybody is pleased with our new policy and
if anyone obstructs our duties, I will leave im-
mediately,” Wickremasinghe concluded.

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