Sri Lanka Head Coach Mickey Arthur replied to the criticism made by Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
During an interview done on the YouTube program “Sports Pavilion/Danushka Aravinda”, Rajapaksha revealed that he has been omitted from the national team due to a fitness issue, and showed his disappointment for the policies followed by the authorities.
Rajapaksha also criticized the selectors for not naming him in the 28-member preliminary squad announced for the England limited over series. He further showed his disagreement over the newly proposed SLC annual player contracts, stating that they have not been developed in a fair and transparent manner.
However, Head Coach Arthur responded to these criticisms during an interview done with The Island newspaper.
“He is a very talented Cricketer; he’s got great hands and superb hitting ability. His fielding, however, is not of international standards. His fitness levels too are not at required standards. We are building a culture of pushing the players to be the best they can be. We want our best players on the field. He would be in our T20 squad. However at the moment his skin folds have gone up and he’s got to work on it,” Arthur said.
Arthur also emphasized the fact that players should be committed and make sacrifices if they want to achieve success.
“Bhanuka has got to make some commitments and he’s got to look after his diet. His excuse has been that he loves chocolates. If you want to be one of the finest Cricketers, then you have got to make some sacrifices. We had a diet plan for him and we expected him to look after himself but his skin folds have gone up again.”
“Bhanuka failed the skin folds test and went home without doing the rest of the tests. This just shows me the attitude and the short cuts he is looking to take. Kusal Janith has lost 15 percent of his skinfolds. The other day, he batted for 42 overs and scored a match-winning hundred in that humidity of Dhaka. If he is not at the best standards, he gives it away at 60 odd. Fitness gives you the base to score those runs and be electric on the field,” Arthur further explained.
Rajapaksa had said that he was once dropped from the national team as Head Coach Arthur was not satisfied with his commitment in running between the wickets.
“When I was dropped, the Head Coach told me that I was running with my gloves in my hands, and that I wasn’t fully committed to running between the wickets,” Rajapaksa said.
Arthur replied to this stating that the incident reflected the attitude of the player, and that he does not like players with such an attitude.
“I was upset that he was running with gloves in hand. It highlights the fact that he didn’t push the first run hard. It was just sloppy cricket and I don’t like sloppy Cricketers. That shows me his attitude as he jogs the first run. If someone has scored 120 in 40 degree heat, I can understand that. But I want our players to get out of their comfort zones,” Arthur said.
