(02-02-2019, 07:08 PM)stillwill Wrote: Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando's performances reminds me of Chandimal's performance before the 2011 WC. He was left out due to inexperience and many felt he should have played. Nissanka and Fernando are doing really well, but it is too late for them to be selected in the national side for these reasons.
1. The core guys who are going to play the world cup must have match experience so they will also need to play Test matches
2. It will take them a year at least to adapt to the international cricket and we can't afford to do that now with WC coming
Yes, these are the normal excuses we give when discussing new players but what have the core guys and/or the experienced guys done thus far. We have been pathetic for a while in the shorter formats and far from consistent in the longer version. Therefore, IMO it's never too late to include new players considering the poor performance of the current lot. Get few new players in the middle against SA, I know it's one of the toughest places for Asian teams to play but let them get that exposure and if they do well include them in the WC squad. There is nothing to lose at all the way we are going at the moment.
On Bhanuka Rajapaksa, He should be included at least in the t20 squad to start with where a quick 30/40 could be important. The downside has been his inability to play long innings or convert starts, getting out in his 30's and 40's more often than not but he seems to have turned it around somewhat with 108, 84 & 268 in his last three innings of domestic cricket.