Kusal Perera makes mockery of WC omission

(Daily Mirror) - Kusal Janith Perera, who was shockingly axed from the Sri Lankan T20 World Cup Squad last month made a mockery of the omission when he hammered a stunning century for Dambulla Sixers in their Lanka Premier League (LPL) game against Jaffna Kings on Wednesday.

The left-handed opening batsman also went unsold during the LPL Auction, only to be given a chance under the new ownership of Dambulla Sixers.

The dashing opening batsman has been one of Sri Lanka's senior players in the current group, but his career was marred by injuries.

However, one cannot forget that he played arguably the greatest-ever Test knock against South Africa in 2019 probably in his prime. Perera has never been short of runs. If not for his injuries he would have been one of Sri Lanka's best batsmen since the retirement of the big three of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardane and T. M. Dilshan.

It is fair to say that the selectors have not shown enough faith in Perera over the years. For instance, someone like Kusal Mendis who has been a bang-average player for over a decade now, has somehow always found a way to be around the national setup despite the off-field antics as well.

Mendis has been viewed as Sri Lanka's best batsman by a number of ex-cricketers as well, but he consistently reminded everyone there is a huge difference between potential and capability.

Hasaranga becoming increasingly unpopular

There is no doubt that Wanindu Hasaranga is one of Sri Lanka's best players at the moment. He has been Sri Lanka's best spinner in shorter format for a while now but since becoming captain he has made himself very difficult to like.

During his team's defeat to Colombo Strikers on Tuesday, he threw a tantrum when one of the younger players misjudged a highball which has not gone down very well among the Sri Lankan fans especially given that Hasaranga is the captain of the team.

Moreover, in the same game when he dismissed Muhammad Wassem - a cricketer from the United Arab Emirates - he celebrated it like he had just won the World Cup - which was truly embarrassing to watch.

There has been a viral video on social media which has captured a section of fans making fun of Hasaranga at the boundary line during an LPL game about him being highheaded.

Hasaranga's talent is nothing to be questioned but moving forward the selectors might want to think twice on whether he is the right person to lead a team.