“It’s all part of the game” is Roshene Silva’s response to being asked if he feels unfortunate to have not made his international debut yet, although many would say otherwise.
Over the past 8-9 years he has made a name for himself as one of the most prolific batmen in the domestic arena. His 1st class average of 49.82 is second to only to the great Kumar Sangakkara’s in the local circuit and speaks volumes of his consistency over the years.
Roshene had to wait many years for a maiden call up to the national squad and it finally came late last year when Sri Lanka manager Jerry Woultersz informed him that he had been picked in the 15 man squad to face the touring Australians. The years of hard work had paid off and with Sri Lanka struggling to gain a foothold in the Test arena after the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, he now had a very real chance of making his debut against the top Test team in the world.
“As a batsman, everyone’s hope is that they can score runs consistently. So I have been scoring runs consistently since 2011, so it was something I was definitely looking forward to. I was expecting a call up in 2011 or 2012 when I was in even better form but because players like Thilan Samaraweera were in the team, I wasn’t able to get in. I didn’t give up, just kept scoring runs so when the call up came I was thrilled.”
His call up came on the back of years of consistently good performances and most recently a prolific run for Sri Lanka A on their tour of England. Roshene ensured that he did whatever he could to get into the team, getting special permission from the national selectors to take time off domestic cricket to play in Northern Ireland. “Before the A team tour of England I got permission to go and play in Ireland. Ireland is a little colder than England so by the time the English tour came around, I was already accustomed to the weather and the conditions at hand. I think that was a factor which contributed to me doing well during that tour.”
Roshene describes it as a particularly good period in his life as not a week after receiving his maiden call up to the national squad, his wife Aroshi gave birth to their 1st child. Despite being a time to celebrate, things also came with challenges, “My wife has had to sacrifice a lot, because she is in Law College and she had to put that on hold for a while. Plus when I went overseas she was worried that I wouldn’t be there when the baby was born. By God’s grace I was able to be with her during that time.”
Prior to the 1st game in Pallekelle, many expected Roshene to get the nod ahead of Dhananjaya De Silva, with renowned cricket commentator Roshan Abeysinghe among those backing the Ragama CC batsman, “In fairness to Roshene Silva, he has a magnificent 1st class record, has a lot of experience and has been knocking on the door after a good A Team tour.”
However as the 26th of July dawned, the National selectors decided to go with Dhananjaya De Silva, who was seen as a valuable all-round option, with his right arm off spin. In many ways it was an unexpected yet understandable decision by the administration as Sri Lanka went into the game with depleted bowling stocks.
Many fans felt that he had been hard done by the selectors but Roshene disagreed, saying, “No I don’t think I was unlucky. Like they say, it’s all a part of the game. When Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva failed, many people said one of them should have been dropped so that I could play. The only reason that didn’t happen was because of the fact that I’m a middle order batsman and they are openers.”
Despite taking the Selectors’ decision in his stride, there is certainly some feeling of disappointment regarding missing out after having gotten so close to a Test debut. “I thought I would get an opportunity in the last game. Since Dhananjaya is an opener, I thought they might send him up the order and let me bat in the middle order but the thinking by the management was to go with the same XI for the last Test as well. On one hand I am disappointed that I didn’t get to play Australia, but at that point Australia was the No. 1 ranked team in the world, so to be a part of the squad that made history by whitewashing them, makes me proud.”
However, in such moments, Roshene is never short of support from those outside the cricketing arena, “My older brother Roshan is the one who has backed me all along, he has always been behind me, pushing me to do better, to stay consistent and to not lose hope. One of our old boys Stefan Morais is another who helped me a lot once I left school. Even now, he is the one who constantly keeps talking to me, whether I score runs or not he constantly encourages me.”
The series itself was a catalyst for Sri Lanka in itself and Roshene credits the atmosphere in the dressing room for much of the success the team experienced. “Nobody expected much from us at all, because we had lost badly before the tour and on the 1st day, we were bowled out for 117. When they went past 200, the dressing room was very subdued but we still believed that we could make something out of the situation.”
“The management, particularly Sanath aiya was a regular presence in the dressing room, encouraging the players to play fearless cricket. I remember when Kaushal Silva failed in the 1st game, he came up to him and said ‘forget about what happened and play positively’. So when things like that happen, players automatically develop more self-belief and play better.”
Having gotten so close on so many occasions, it would be easy to lose hope in the system and Roshene almost gave up on his dreams of playing for Sri Lanka at one point. “I came to a decision to leave Sri Lanka and go and play abroad. But then I thought, after doing so well for the Sri Lanka U19s, at the club level and scoring so much runs for the A team, I believe I have something good to offer to my country so leaving without doing so would be a waste. So that’s why I’m still hanging on, waiting for an opportunity, because I believe I have something to offer the national team.”
Speaking to Roshene, it’s clear that he is not one to dwell much on past disappointments but instead chooses to concentrate on doing well consistently. Many coaches rate his technique highly and more importantly identify him as someone who possesses the temperament to do well in tough situations, in whatever format of the game.
Roshene too has not restricted his hopes to being selected solely for the long format. “I have been identified as a player more suited to playing Test cricket, but I feel when it comes to one-day cricket, I’m someone who can play a big innings. I have four List A hundreds so far and Mominul Haque and I hold the record for highest 4th wicket partnership in List A cricket. We put on 276 in a Bangladesh club game. So I think I can contribute in the ODI arena, I’m just waiting for an opportunity to prove myself.”
With Sri Lanka’s middle order woes renewed in the last 6 months, may be the management would do well to give Roshene a chance to show the world what he’s capable of.
