National Cricket Selectors, led by Pramodya Wickramasinghe, have responded to Sports Minister’s criticisms on the selection panel, claiming they are unfair and politically motivated.
In a media statement, the selectors have rejected the Minister’s claims that the present Selection Committee is responsible for the team’s poor performance in last 4 years. The selectors have reiterated that this Selection Committee was appointed 2 and half years ago, and have not been in operation for 4 years.
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They have mentioned in the statement that the current Selection Committee has achieved significant success compared to the previous selection panels during their 2.5-year tenure.
The selectors have highlighted some of the achievements they made during their tenure as below.
- Defeating Australia in the bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka after 30 years.
- Winning an Asia Cup trophy after 8 years.
- Becoming the Runners Up of the Asia Cup in ODI format after 9 years.
- Claiming the 5thplace in the World Test Championship.
- Defeating India in a bilateral T20I series after 7 years.
- Defeating New Zealand in a T20I match after years.
- Winning the ICC World Cup Qualifiers competition.
- Earning direct qualification for T20 World Cup for the first time after 2016.
- Building a team capable of playing for another 10 years and win a World Cup in future.
Highlighting the above points, the selectors have emphasized that the current crop of Cricketers in the national team have performed considerably well, and are one of the best teams produced in the recent times.
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The selectors also highlighted that the final selection of a playing XI is a collective decision done by the Captain, Head Coach and selectors; therefore the selectors cannot solely be responsible for the outcome of a match.
In response to the humiliating defeat against India, the selectors noted that the team picked for the particular game was the best possible and most balanced team they could have picked given the circumstances.
