Sri Lankan allrounder Upul Chandana quit in disgust yesterday blaming the establishment for what he claimed was a raw deal given to him during his career which spanned 13 years.
The 35-year old Chandana did not name anyone responsible for the shabby treatment meted out to him but told reporters that they were in the best position to pass judgement.
“You have seen and continue to see what is taking place. You all know who performs and who does not and who should be in the team and who should not”, Chandana told reporters.
He said he was retiring in utter frustration and disappointment and accused administrators and selectors of leaving room for a few players, which he did not name, to take matters into their own hands.
Chanadana said that as a player it was appalling to note how players with Test ability were drafted into the one-day team and players with one-day ability were picked for the Test team.
“The selections were absurd and what we had was a pre-determined team all the time”, charged Chandana.
Contrary to the belief that he was a mere one-day player who could only contain batsmen with his leg-spinners and slog with his bat, Chandana claimed that he would have silenced critics and pundits had he been given equal opportunities.
“For you to succeed you need your confidence and for your confidence to rise you need to be given fair and equal opportunities like other leg spinners Malinga Bandara and Kaushal Lokuarachchi had”, said Chandana who was also bitter over his omission from the recent World Cup in the West Indies.
"I was hoping to be selected for the World Cup after doing consistently well in domestic cricket. It did not happen and when I was not selected for the Twenty-20 (World Cup) I thought I should go out of international cricket", Chandana said.
There is speculation that Chandana would look to sign up with the Indian Cricket League but the retiring player said he is yet to be nudged."I will have to think about it”, he declared.
Chandana played in 16 Tests between 1999 and 2005 and 147 one day internationals between 1994 and 2007.
He took a career-best nine wickets in a Test match against Australia at Cairns in 2004 in the absence of spinner Muttiah Muralitheran who refused to play.
As a practice Sri Lankan cricketers slam their bosses only after they retire for fear of reprisals and victimization.
--Daily Mirror
No comments:
Post a Comment