Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal two important players for SL in the World Cup, says De Silva

Mathews and Chandimal both are out of the SL right now.

Angelo Mathews - Dinesh Chandimal. ( cricket.com.au)

Former Sri Lankan cricketer Aravinda de Silva has said that Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal are the two most important players for Sri Lanka in their build-up to the 2019 World Cup. 

"I think Angelo is probably the most capable all-rounder of the side and also has a good cricketing brain along with Chandimal," said de Silva, who was a star batsman in the Sri Lankan side that won the World Cup in 1996.

De Silva believes Hathurusingha's ease of communication with players gives him an advantage over a foreign coach.

"He is probably the best... plainly because of the fact that he can relate to the players far better and the players can also relate to him," de Silva said.There is no language or a culture barrier and... it helps because they can voice their opinion."

De Silva, who resigned as head of the cricket committee of the island's board last year, believes the players look fit and improvements are visible.

"I think they are playing better cricket now. I hope with a little more exposure and experience they will start doing well as a young new team," said the 52-year-old veteran. 

De Silva also praised Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera saying that he sees a lot of Sanath Jayasuriya in him. 

"I see a lot of Sanath (Jayasuriya) in him and I think it is a crime to leave a guy like him out of the Test team," he said, referring to his former teammate and explosive opener whose whirlwind style revolutionized top-order batting in the 1990s.

Perera has smashed three fifties in four matches of the ongoing T20 tri-series. He has represented Sri Lanka in 73 ODIs and 34 T20s, but has played only 10 Tests since his debut in the format in 2015.

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 17 Mar, 2018

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