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The pack turns on vice captain Chaminda Vaas
By Marlon Fernandopulle
Senior Cricketers of the Sri Lanka Cricket team have cornered and sidelined their newly appointed vice captain Chaminda Vaas in order to express their displeasure at the appointment of the all-rounder to the position.

The appointment of Chaminda Vaas as vice captain was made at the expense of batsman Mahela Jayawardene by the selection committee headed by Lalith Kaluperuma for the three test series against India. According to the Chairman of Selectors Lalith Kaluperuma the appointment of Chaminda Vaas was to relieve Mahela Jayawardene from any undue pressure and help him concentrate only on his batting and also to give the selectors a choice when it comes to the appointment of a new captain.Immediately after Chaminda’s appointment as vice-captain was announced senior players of the team had secretly expressed their dissatisfaction among each other and began to corner the Lankan all-rounder. Vaas was quick to realize the reaction of his team mates who slowly but surely began to sideline him during the preparations for the Indian tour.

The Sunday Times learns from highly reliable sources that Vaas was frustrated, shocked and disappointed, so much so, that he had spoken to the Chairman of the Interim Committee Jayantha Dharmadasa before the team left for India and requested him to remove him from the position as vice captain. However the Interim committee Chairman had not accede to his request, but encouraged him to continue as the vice captain saying the appointment was made by the Selection Committee and not by anyone else.

A very close confidante of Chaminda Vaas who was present at the Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters at the time the team was leaving for India expressed surprise and shock in the manner in which the all-rounder was treated. “You could have seen the difference. He was all by himself and none of the team mates were with him or spoke to him when they gathered at the Cricket Board just before they departed. I have been there on previous occasions to witness the team leave and I noted the difference, it was really a sad situation. Is this what they call the team spirit?”

The same source who has been in touch with Chaminda Vaas said that the situation was no different in India. “These Senior Cricketers continued to treat Chaminda in this manner while in India. Chaminda is really devastated. He cannot believe that some of the senior cricketers who have been his buddies all along have now turned their backs on him after he was elevated to the position of vice-captain”.

The Sunday Times also learns that a Selector who had heard of such happenings had checked up with Manager Michael Tissera earlier this week, only to be told that nothing was noticeable to that effect. The 31 year old all-rounder who made his test debut in 1994 became only the second Sri Lankan to take 300 test wickets during the second test against India earlier this week. In addition Chaminda Vaas who is one of the few survivors of the world champion team of 1996 has already played in 260 ODI’s and captured 330 wickets.

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