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Arnold: Thisara as captain is exciting
Thisara Perera will lead Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20I teams in India next month*. It will be the 28-year old allrounder’s first experience of the role in 50-over international cricket, though he was in charge of a depleted T20I side that took on Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium last month. Thisara will be the seventh man to captain Sri Lanka in 2017, following Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Dinesh Chandimal and Chamara Kapugedera who have borne the responsibility in one format or other.
“All teams go through tough patches, it’s upto each of us to get past our mental barriers and perform best for our country,” Thisara said after his appointment on Wednesday. “The goal for each one of us is to bring glory to our country. This must be clearly stated. I can confidently say that although India are currently best in the world in all 3 formats, if you compare each player of our team with any player in the world [not only India] we are on par with the best of the best.”
Sri Lanka’s limited-overs cricket has undergone plenty of upheaval this year. They lost an ODI series for the first time to Zimbabwe, which prompted Mathews to resign. Upul Tharanga was then appointed captain, but on his watch Sri Lanka were whitewashed 5-0 at home by India and 5-0 away by Pakistan.
“My policy as captain is to stop dwelling on the past and failures, and to march forward together with my team with our eyes firmly planted on the goal of bringing glory to our motherland,” Thisara stated. “I believe that if each player can perform to his individual potential, we can easily win this series.”
The team was beaten 5-0 in South Africa as well, when Tharanga had been a stand-in captain. His batting form, however, was one of the few bright spots during this period. Tharanga carried his bat, scoring 112 not out against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and also flayed 119 off only 90 balls against the South Africa attack in Cape Town.
Speaking on Tharanga’s role in the team, chief selector Graeme Labrooy said: “Quite contrary to the baseless speculation on Social Media sites, Tharanga had not failed us in anyway, we want him to keep making big scores and want him to concentrate on his game without burdening him with the captaincy, this is merely a strategic move, and we have discussed it with Tharanga too, who being the 100% team player he is, understands our reasoning and requirement.
“We are keen to implement our selections policy across the board in all aspects of the game, and Thisara’s appointment is one such move. We believe this is the leadership skillset the team needs right now, and have made this decision specifically with our long term goals in mind.”
Thisara has played 125 ODIs since his debut in December 2009, with a formidable strike-rate of 109 but an average of only 17. As a bowler, he has taken 133 wickets at 32.62 apiece. His form in recent series, though, has come under some scrutiny. Thisara made only 91 runs – at 18.20 – and picked up a mere four wickets in the ODIs against Pakistan and followed that with 19 runs and three wickets across three T20Is.
SLC, however, is thought to have been impressed with Thisara’s commanding of a young outfit when several first-choice players expressed reluctance to travel to Lahore.
*1345GMT The news was updated after Sri Lanka Cricket issued an official release
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo