Ahead of WT20, Sri Lanka sacks selectors; appoint de Silva, Sangakkara to new panel

Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket has sacked the national cricket selection committee ahead of ICC World T20 which begins with the qualifiers today in India. [caption id=“attachment_2662550” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sri Lanka team. AFP[/caption] The sacking comes in the wake of the national team’s poor performances in the just-concluded Asia Cup in Bangladesh and the preceding bilateral series in India. In January, Sri Lanka had also lost its no 1 ICC Twenty20 ranking after they lost to New Zealand. Former batsman Aravinda de Silva will lead the new panel. He has been joined by the recently retired Kumar Sangakkara, his 1996 World Cup winning teammate Romesh Kaluwitharana and Lalith Kaluperuma, a former chairman of selectors who had played in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match in 1982. Ranjith Madurasinghe, who was also a Test player in the mid 1980s, is the fifth member of the panel. They will replace the Kapila Wijegunawardena headed committee appointed in April 2015. The sacking of selectors was part of a recent action by the new Thilanga Sumathipala headed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) administration to shore up the sagging fortunes of the team. PTI