By Revatha S. Silva

[caption id="attachment_160614" align="alignleft" width="300"] Former dashing batsman allegedly eyes a grand re-entry into the national selection committee[/caption]

One of the most prolific dashing batters Sri Lanka produced in recent times is eager to make a comeback into the national selection committee, the Sunday Morning Sports reliably learnt.

The lobbying has already begun for him to enter the current national selection committee, probably as one of its members or as its new chief.

“He is already having discussions with one of the top officials of the current cricket administration. The official is also willing to include him in the panel,” a senior Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official revealed last week.

A shady past

Pramodya Wickramasinghe heads the current three-member senior national selection committee which also includes Romesh Kaluwitharana and Hemantha Wickramaratne.

“There were numerous allegations from the local as well as international bodies against this player, concerning the period when he was heading the selection committee. During such times Sri Lanka lost quite unexpectedly against very lesser countries,” remembered the said source.

“Those who are trying to force him in again need to be responsible if similar things are going to happen again and hinder the progress our team is displaying at the moment,” he added.

Successful ‘youth policy’

The move by the present selectors to apply a drastic ‘youth policy’ while dropping a couple of seniors, such as Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, and Dinesh Chandimal, from white-ball formats, came in for criticism initially from some quarters.

Yet, after a new-look Sri Lanka side under Skipper Dasun Shanaka started winning and regaining confidence of the local cricket followers, such criticism faded gradually.

The new national selection committee under Wickramasinghe was appointed in April after the previous Ashantha de Mel-headed committee was dissolved following January’s Test series defeat against England at home.

Long term or short term

Since then, three leading players --Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella-- suffered a ban on their cricket for disciplinary issues while new names like Pathum Nissanka, Minod Bhanuka, Chamika Karunaratne, Charith Asalanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Maheesh Theekshana entered the fray creating new hopes following almost five years of disastrous run.

“One of the arguments raised by those who campaign for him is that Sri Lanka will crash out from the very first round of the World Cup (in October-November) if the selectors go arbitrarily on a youth policy,” the official further pointed out.

“‘As they go on a long-term plan, Sri Lanka are to suffer on the short term,’ seems to be their argument,” explained the said official who is privy to the development.

To upset the apple cart

But the political hierarchy of the country and the National Sports Council (NSC), which includes Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, are expected to stand against any possible move to include the said dasher in the national selection panel.

“There are officials who want a selection panel that is going to dance to their tunes,” the source said.

“And, on the other hand, prominent former players too want to find some satisfaction in being able to wield their influence over the game. They also might have one eye on generating some wealth through unscrupulous means after coming into those powers. We know there were various fixing allegations in the recent past,” he stressed.

“The history provides us more than enough examples. Do these officials want our common success or having their personal glory,” asked the source.