Sri Lanka Reveal Likely T20 World Cup Selection Plan

Sri Lanka are set to give the nod to experienced players when deciding on their squad of 15 for the June event. Chief selector Upul Tharanga has revealed Sri Lanka will favour experience over youth when deciding who will represent the side at this year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The 2014 T20 World Cup champions caused a shock recently when they recalled experienced wicket-keeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella for their ongoing T20I series with Bangladesh and Tharanga indicated this would be the norm ahead of this year's 20-over showcase in the USA and Caribean in June.

It means the likes of left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage and fellow youngsters Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Shevon Daniel may have to bide their time and wait for further opportunities at the top level according to Tharanga.

"In T20s we need a wicket-taking option, which is why we opted for Jeffrey (Vandersay) over someone like Dunith (Wellalage). We felt that Jeffrey was more of an attacking bowler in T20s.," Tharanga said as quoted by ICC official website.

"We had a big discussion regarding Viyaskanth and Jeffrey, and there were differing opinions within the selection committee. But in the end, we went with Jeffrey because the (T20) World Cup is coming up soon and there was a question over whether Viyaskanth could suddenly be brought in to play in a (T20) World Cup. So that's why we went with Jeffrey and his experience," the former opener added.

"We were looking for someone to play in the top order (following injuries to Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera). We looked at Shevon Daniel, Lasith Croospulle and Dikka (Dickwella), but the first two are still quite young. It was difficult to pick them based purely on their most recent performances," the 39-year-old