Many of you know half of the players in Sri Lanka,but most of you wouldn’t know the hidden players in it.
I first point the attention towards Indika De Seram,a lad from the south who holds the record for most runs scored in a single day beating ex cpt.Arjuna Ranatunga’s 318 scoring 319*.Seram was called up for the team in the early 2000.An average performance by Seram and the admission of wicket keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara who is now the Sri Lankan cpt. made life hard for Indika.Eventually he was dropped from the team.In the domestic season 2004 he was the highest run scorer.He kept on his good form and became the highest run scorer in the 2005 season but the selectors didnt give him a fair chance. He has scored more than 10000 runs ain the domestic arena with 21 centuries under his belt.He then led the Sri Lanka towards victory in the Hong Kong 6s with his hard hitting ability.In 2007 he didnt make the Sri Lankan team which left for the inaugaral T20 world cup.He was selected to the T20 world cup squad in 2009 but wasnt given a single chance eventhough Chamara Silva and Jehan Mubarak kept on failing.But in the first T20 domestic season,Seram was the highest run scorer.The Sri Lankan midle order which lacks fire power needed a batter like Seram,but this talent was wasted.Now in the late 30s Seram still contributes with the bat for his domestic side Ragama.The matter of his selection still reamins a blank.

Kaushalya Weeraratne,the left handed allrounder who holds the record for the fastest fifty ever to be scored by a batsman is another hidden talent.He hit a 12 ball half century which is only done by India’s Yuvraj Singh in the T20 format.At the age of 19 he entered the Sri LAnkan team against PAkisthan in 2000.This hard hitting paceman was left out of the Sri Lankan team for quite a sometime.He was then called up in 2008 but was left out for no reason.He didnt fail,but the unforeseen force of  Jehan Mubarak who kept on under performing made Weeraratne and many others falling apart.Kaushal still performs in the domestic arena but still he ain’t noticed.

Another class player who wasnt given the chance was Jeewantha Kulatunga.This fine batsman form Kurunegala who has the flexibility to bat at any given position wasnt choosen to the national side due to unkonwn reasons.He has scored over 7000 domestic runs and is a player of Colts Cricket Club.This could be seen as the most injustice because there wasnt any reason for not picking him.Kulatunga a hard hitter by nature was a member in the Sri Lankan domestic team ‘Vayamba’ which represented the Champions League T20 and was the highest run scorer for Sri Lanka.He also played a big role in the Hong Kong 6s triumph and was a member for a long period in the Sri LAnka 6 a side team.At the age of 35 Kulatunga still could be a very good player for the T20 and the limited overs version.

Not only them there are a list of people whos knocking at the teams door.Gayan Wijekoon who has a first class average of 38 and has 244 scalps is still a steady performer.but he still aint looked up by the selectors.Chanaka Welagedara,Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Kaushal Silva are some good players who aint given the proper exposure.
Now I’ll move your attention towards some bright prospects of Sri Lanka Cricket. Dinesh Chandimal who came up the ranks through the school calender becoming the highest run scorer in the season playing for Ananda College.In his first class debut against the New Zeland team he scored a half century where the other Sri Lankan batsmen struggled.In the next practice match he scored a century against the Kiwis proving his worthiness but went unnoticed.In the only 07 first class matches he played he has scored 3 centuries with an outstanding average of 66.Chandimal whos in his peak should be utililized before its wasted as the previous mentioned talents.To get to the winning streak of the Sri Lankan cricket team the responsible authorities should be more careful while selectiing the team.

by Minura Munasinghe