New Delhi: Dinesh Chandimal has been a talisman cricketer for Sri Lanka but is out of favour in the ongoing ODI series against Zimbabwe. And that being the case, former captain of Sri Lanka, Arjuna Ranatuna, has slammed the national selectors for making the move to axe Chandimal. As the fourth ODI of the five-match series is being played on Saturday, Chandimal is yet to get a match in the series.
Ranatunga was quoted in the Sri Lankan media to be saying, “I am bitterly disappointed with what these people have done with Chandimal. They have destroyed him. I am surprised that Sanath Jayasuriya being a selector, he has forgotten his past. It took Sanath more than 40 games to score his first half-century. He was never comfortable earlier on in his career. The team management and the selectors faced lot of pressure those days, but we backed him as we knew that he was our future. Look at what he ended up with.”
He further said, “I am sad that Sanath is not doing the same with younger players. Dinesh Chandimal is a naturally gifted player and you don’t find talents like him in the country. He is a rare talent and I am pretty certain he is the future.”
He also added, “He is going to win you lot of matches. He was our best batsman last year averaging 59 and at the age of 27 has done wonderfully well having already scored four ODI hundreds. So what more do you want?”
