Chief Selector remains optimistic on Sri Lanka’s trajectory
Chief selector Upul Tharanga expressed serious concern over the lack of Test cricket and its detrimental impact on the nation’s Test specialists, while also outlining plans to revitalise Sri Lanka’s struggling T20 format ahead of next year’s World Cup, which the country will co-host with India.
The national side confronts a troubling Test schedule gap, with no fixtures planned for twelve months following their upcoming Bangladesh series, creating significant challenges for the country’s red-ball specialists who will be left without competitive opportunities in the longer format.
“The lack of Test cricket is greatly impacting the team. This is very, very unfair,” he emphasised in an interview with the Sunday Times.
“After the forthcoming series against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka’s next Test match is after a year.
“And that’s really unfair to those Test specialists. We need to find a solution for this.”
The scheduling crisis arises largely from the World Test Championship cycle and influx of white-ball cricket, leaving Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) scrambling to arrange fixtures. Tharanga confirmed that while SLC acknowledges the problem and is actively seeking additional matches, the current situation remains untenable for player development and team continuity.
Sri Lanka plays only four Test matches for the entire year with two already completed against Australia in February and only the remaining two fixtures are against Bangladesh next month.
Currently ranked sixth in ICC rankings, the national Test team is also facing a transition period. With Dimuth Karunaratne already retired and Angelo Mathews, retiring at the end of the first Test against Bangladesh at Galle, Sri Lanka must prepare for the possible replacements and Tharanga, a former Sri Lanka skipper said that they have a steady stream of Test players knocking the door.
“We are well prepared for that challenge,” he said.
“If you look at the some of the batters at Sri Lanka ‘A’ level, they have done extremely well. Lahiru Udara, Sonal Dinusha, Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Pavan Ratnayake have been excellent. They have been consistent as well. So during the Bangladesh series, we will try out some of these players and I am sure they will grab the opportunities presented to them. These players have shown the hunger and with experience they will do well”.
“But then again, as I said earlier, there’s a long drought of Test cricket and it’s tough to keep them motivated,” he admitted.
Tharanga, who wore the Chief Selector’s hat in December 2023, was particularly critical of Sri Lanka’s T20 performance, identifying fundamental issues that need addressing before they co-host the World Cup. “I don’t think we did well in T20. We lacked consistency. There were individual performances but as a collective group, they failed to perform up to the mark. They don’t click as a team,” he stated bluntly.
Tharanga highlighted a persistent middle-order problem that has plagued the team despite numerous attempts to find solutions.
“We have been trying some players in the middle order but sadly many of them failed to grab the opportunity and own those positions. Hoping they would come good, we also gave them a longer run to give them experience but that did not bear the fruits.”
He identified game awareness as the team’s most pressing concern.
“The biggest problem I see is the lack of game awareness. They don’t read the game well and handle those situations,” he explained.
Despite Sri Lankan players’ increased participation in global franchise cricket, including the Indian Premier League, Tharanga believes they’re failing to translate these experiences into national team success.
“Unlike before, our players are playing a lot of league cricket across the world now, including IPL which is a good sign. But they need to use those experiences to the benefit of the national team.”
With co-hosting duties looming, Tharanga outlined an ambitious preparation strategy involving seven to eight identified middle-order candidates who will receive opportunities over the coming months. The selection panel has already engaged with domestic clubs to ensure these players are utilised in their preferred positions during domestic competitions.
“We have spoken to the national team management and are working on a plan for the World Cup next year,” Tharanga revealed.
“We have spoken to the clubs also regarding these players and have insisted them to use these players in respective positions.”
The chairman emphasised the need for substantial individual contributions, particularly from batsmen who must learn to convert promising starts into match-winning innings.
“We need batters to play long innings. If you look, we have lost matches because of batting mostly. We have good batters and I need them to convert their 20s and 30s to 50s and 70s and 80s to hundreds.”
Tharanga acknowledged the changing landscape of T20 cricket, where century-makers are becoming increasingly common at international level.
“At the international stage many batters get 100s in T20s now and we need to be at that level.”
Facing a generational shift with Dimuth Karunaratne’s retirement and Angelo Mathews’s forthcoming retirement, Tharanga expressed confidence in emerging talent. He identified Lahiru Udara, Sonal Dinusha, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, and Pavan Rathnayake as promising prospects who have shown consistency at Sri Lanka ‘A’ level.
“If you look at some of the batters at Sri Lanka ‘A’ level, I think we are well prepared for the challenge ahead,” he said.
“These players have shown the hunger and with experience they will do well.”
Mathews is likely to be included for the Bangladesh Test series, but whether he will feature in either Tests or one is yet to be decided as selectors are keen to provide opportunities youngsters. The chairman didn’t shy away from addressing Sri Lanka’s spin bowling challenges, particularly Prabath Jayasuriya’s struggles away from home. Despite an excellent overall record, Jayasuriya’s statistics reveal a stark home-away disparity.
“Even though Prabath Jayasuriya has an excellent record at home, his performance away from home is far from impressive,” Tharanga admitted.
“Out of Jayasuriya’s 116 wickets, 90 wickets are in Sri Lanka while he has taken only 26 wickets in 8 matches out of Sri Lanka.”
To address these concerns, SLC has appointed Australian coach Craig Howard specifically to help spinners master the art of bowling on more unhelpful surfaces abroad. In contrast to their spinning struggles, Tharanga expressed satisfaction with the fast bowling unit’s consistent performances over his tenure.
“I am satisfied with how the fast bowlers have performed over the last one and half years. They did well consistently. Even in South Africa, they bowled well.”
Three frontline pacemen — Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, and Kasun Rajitha — are currently honing their skills in County cricket, whilst Dushmantha Chameera, despite recurring injury concerns that rule him out of Test consideration, remains in World Cup plans.
Despite mixed results across formats — with ODI cricket showing promise through their current fourth ranking whilst Test results have been disappointing in Australia and South Africa — Tharanga remains optimistic about the team’s trajectory.