India vs Sri Lanka: Revenge-seeking visitors drop Kusal Mendis while Angelo Mathews returns

Two months ago, Sri Lanka’s selection panel, led by former opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, resigned en masse following their side’s horrendous show against India in Tests and ODIs. They had lost the Tests by a 3-0 margin and before India could mete out a similar whitewash in ODIs, every member of the selection panel stepped down. Sri Lanka has been on a freefall to doom ever since the retirement of some stalwarts in the middle-order (read: Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene) with three whitewashes inflicted on them this year in ODIs. Under the new selection panel, led by chairman Graeme Labrooy, Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in UAE last month, becoming the first team to do so in the process. It seemed to be a huge curve for Sri Lankan cricket who were no close to ending their transition period which had begun roughly two years ago. [caption id=“attachment_3927161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis. AP[/caption] But the celebrations that followed the Test series win (2-0) were silenced quickly enough as Sri Lanka lost the ODI series 5-0 to Pakistan. With revenge on their minds ahead of the series against India, Labrooy and his panel have named the Test squad and what has caught the eye is that Kusal Mendis, once touted as the next big thing in Sri Lankan cricket, has been dropped. Some others like Nuwan Pradeep and Kaushal Silva, whose attitude and temperament seemingly impressed coach Nic Pothas a month ago, also do not find a place in the squad. Interestingly, the new selection panel seems to have watched a bit of Sri Lanka A matches and domestic cricket as the likes of Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva have earned recalls following good performances in first-class cricket in the past few months. But have they got it all right? Understandably, the bombshell that the new selection panel dropped by leaving Mendis back in Sri Lanka has angered the fans. After all, it wasn’t long before that he was considered the saviour of Sri Lankan cricket. The No 3 batsman’s inconsistency and lack of temperament in recent times seems to have irked the selection panel. “He is a confidence player. For him, confidence is everything. He has got everything in his armoury. We don’t want a situation where he plays two more innings, gets two low scores and then (we have to) drop him and destroy his confidence further. He has got age on his side and we want him to go onto becoming one of the greatest of the game. We want him to play for another ten years,” Labrooy had told cricbuzz.com. Lavrooy’s statements can be split into two. On one side, he establishes that Mendis is a confidence player and on the other he feels Mendis is good enough to play for 10 years in international cricket but needs some boost in confidence now. As such he can go back to domestic cricket, make some runs and return a better player. At first glance, he does have a point. Mendis has been inconsistent and runs haven’t come by as thick and fast as Sri Lanka would expect from a man the country is looking at to replace Sangakkara. However, the team itself has been producing lacklustre performances over the past few months and Mendis just seems like a scapegoat at the moment. This feeling is magnified with the knowledge that he was one of the only two centurions for the hosts when India visited three months back. He made 200 runs in six innings in that series at an average of 33.33. Keep aside his 110 at Colombo, and it comes down to 90 runs in five innings. Hardly anything to write home about. Yet, his tally was the third best — behind Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella — among Sri Lankans in that series. Good players returning to domestic cricket when a huge dip in form happens is an age-old practice. But with the kind of situation Sri Lanka are in right now, they need everybody who can spell ’talent’ in the national squad. Mendis sure needs the confidence, as Labrooy points out, but probably not by playing domestic cricket; his captain, coach and management need to instill belief in the right-hander. The return of Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva The case of Dhananjaya de Silva is no less different. After Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka last year, de Silva was identified as one of the next big names in Sri Lankan cricket. However, few poor performances and he was immediately dropped and eventually made sporadic appearances this year across formats. Another confidence player, de Silva’s self-belief was shattered by some poor management by the selectors. However, the Labrooy-panel has given him a lifeline by naming him in the squad for India following some eye-catching performances for Sri Lanka A against West Indies A. “We are glad that Dhananjaya made some runs for Sri Lanka A in the Caribbean. He will be considered as an opener or number three batsman in the future and we don’t want to drop him to the middle-order,” Labrooy told  cricbuzz.com. That kind of clarity in batting position should give Dhananjaya some much needed boost in confidence and the selectors have done well here. The silent Shanaka, an impact performer, had made quite some noise in England with his bowling during Sri Lanka’s last tour to the country but was dropped following poor returns with the bat. Expecting a Hardik Pandya from Shanaka might be too much but the all-rounder sure has it in him to become a regular in the Test side. With Shanaka and Dilruwan Perera both in the team, Sri Lanka will have more options with the ball from players who can bat quite well. The return of Angelo Mathews should boost the middle-order and the former skipper is expected to play a massive role on this tour. If he can hold one end together and inspire one of the younger batsmen at the other, Sri Lanka might just be able to string together some partnerships to worry the Indians. Exclusion of Nuwan Pradeep and Kaushal Silva Silva’s exclusion, which comes after Pothas’ effusive praise for him, is fairly justified. The opener had played out time and balls, but the runs hadn’t just come by and Sri Lanka cannot hang around in hope that a turnaround is nearby. By retaining Roshan Silva and Sadeera Samarawickrama, the selectors have sent out the right message for youngsters aspiring to be in the Test arena. The duo should be in a tussle for the opening slot in India and Labrooy feels that the latter has impressed enough to get a first attempt at partnering Dimuth Karunaratne. Nuwan Pradeep was one another critical performer in the Test squad but the panel has decided to leave him behind due to injury concerns. However, Pradeep was Sri Lanka’s sole outstanding performer with the ball against India and Pakistan recently and should have been on that flight to India. Although injury concerns are valid, Pradeep, as of now, is fit and raring to go. But the panel feels otherwise and has decided to keep him off Test cricket for some time. The likes of Asela Gunaratne and Kusal Perera were expected to be fit in time for this tour but do not find themselves in the squad. While a three-month layoff would mean Gunaratne has had little game time, a warm-up or two would have been sufficient to get him back into the scheme of things. Sri Lanka sorely needed his presence when playing the no.1 Test side but he remains back home for lack of game-time although medically cleared to play. Test squad: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Lahiru Gamage, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Roshen Silva