The extent to which batsman Dinesh Chandimal has been given raw deal after raw deal could not have been explained any better than during the concluded white ball home series between Sri Lanka and India although he has been named in the Test squad for a three-Test series in England.
Selected into the T20 squad after some pleasing performances at last month’s LPL, Chandimal was not allowed to play a single T20 match against India which Sri Lanka lost 3-0. He was also not selected for the ensuing ODI series.
The 34-year old Chandimal who is one player that can fit into all three formats and even captained the Test team, was recalled into the T20 squad after hammering 30 fours and 18 sixes in an aggregate of 285 runs at last month’s LPL that included a top score of 88.
The last time Sri Lankan followers saw Chandimal play for the country in a T20 match was 29 months ago in February 2022 against India at Dharamshala where he made 22 and the last time they saw him don the Sri Lanka attire in an ODI match was in November 2022 at Pallekele against Afghanistan where he made 33 in 32 balls in a winning chase of a 314 target.
Statistically Chandimal has appeared at the crease on 142 occasions in ODI cricket scoring 3854 runs that includes 24 half centuries and four hundreds for an average of 31.59.
Should he continue to be given raw deals, Chandimal will join the list of the most badly managed players in a country where team selectors have merely played a game of musical chairs, if some of them know what it means.
Sri Lanka Test squad:
Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrema, Asitha Fernando, Wishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nisala Tharaka, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Ratnayake
