Pata
05-09-2007, 08:02 AM
Sri Lanka wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara hopes the absence of three key players from the national side will allow some of the younger players to prove they are up to the rigours of one-day international cricket.
Sangakkara and established players Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas will be omitted from the Sri Lanka one-day squad which will compete in a three-match series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi from May 18 to 22.
The trio are set to concentrate on their obligations in English county cricket - Sangakkara will play for Warwickshire while Muralitharan and Vaas will turn out for Lancashire and Middlesex respectively.
The 29-year-old thinks it is an early chance for fringe players to impress the new Sri Lanka selection panel.
“I think this will be a good opportunity for the team to look at fresh talent,” Sangakkara said. “Our bench strength has been very good in the past.
“This will also be a great challenge for the newcomers, the players who have been performing at A level, to put their hands up and grab the opportunity given to them.
“In the past we have played without Muralitharan and Vaas and performed well. So this is nothing new and the team needs to look ahead and try to adjust with times and situations.”
Despite some calls for the old guard to retire as the team look ahead to the next World Cup in 2011, Sangakkara thinks the more experienced Sri Lanka players still have a lot to offer the national team.
“Two years from now I am sure that both Muralitharan and Vaas will definitely be playing,” Sangakkara said. “They are fit and performing and I don’t see them moving away.
“Even in the case of Sanath (Jayasuriya), who is older, he is very fit and is quite capable of performing. He has proved to the whole world in this last World Cup what a great player he is and he also won matches for his team.
“So I don’t want to look at anybody calling it a day in two years.”
For the moment, though, the cultured left-hander is concentrating on his career with Warwickshire as he gets to grips with his first taste of English county cricket.
He is likely to make his debut for the Bears in the Friends Provident Trophy game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on May 13.
Sangakkara said: “It is an opportunity any player will be looking forward to. It is an opportunity to be exposed and understand what it is to be a professional player.
“It is also a learning curve with the environment the pressure and cricket almost seven days of the week. I must admit it is not going to be easy.
“Having said that, whether I do well or badly, I will end up gaining a lot of confidence knowing that I have played in the circuit and was exposed to one of the toughest challenges of cricket, where lots of international players have improved their game.”
Sangakkara and established players Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas will be omitted from the Sri Lanka one-day squad which will compete in a three-match series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi from May 18 to 22.
The trio are set to concentrate on their obligations in English county cricket - Sangakkara will play for Warwickshire while Muralitharan and Vaas will turn out for Lancashire and Middlesex respectively.
The 29-year-old thinks it is an early chance for fringe players to impress the new Sri Lanka selection panel.
“I think this will be a good opportunity for the team to look at fresh talent,” Sangakkara said. “Our bench strength has been very good in the past.
“This will also be a great challenge for the newcomers, the players who have been performing at A level, to put their hands up and grab the opportunity given to them.
“In the past we have played without Muralitharan and Vaas and performed well. So this is nothing new and the team needs to look ahead and try to adjust with times and situations.”
Despite some calls for the old guard to retire as the team look ahead to the next World Cup in 2011, Sangakkara thinks the more experienced Sri Lanka players still have a lot to offer the national team.
“Two years from now I am sure that both Muralitharan and Vaas will definitely be playing,” Sangakkara said. “They are fit and performing and I don’t see them moving away.
“Even in the case of Sanath (Jayasuriya), who is older, he is very fit and is quite capable of performing. He has proved to the whole world in this last World Cup what a great player he is and he also won matches for his team.
“So I don’t want to look at anybody calling it a day in two years.”
For the moment, though, the cultured left-hander is concentrating on his career with Warwickshire as he gets to grips with his first taste of English county cricket.
He is likely to make his debut for the Bears in the Friends Provident Trophy game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on May 13.
Sangakkara said: “It is an opportunity any player will be looking forward to. It is an opportunity to be exposed and understand what it is to be a professional player.
“It is also a learning curve with the environment the pressure and cricket almost seven days of the week. I must admit it is not going to be easy.
“Having said that, whether I do well or badly, I will end up gaining a lot of confidence knowing that I have played in the circuit and was exposed to one of the toughest challenges of cricket, where lots of international players have improved their game.”