Home team Sri Lanka’s selection for the Asia Cup, under new chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva, saw a couple of expected decisions being taken, as also a few surprising ones. Sanath Jayasuriya’s exclusion falls in the former category while Ajantha Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal’s non-selection should be part of the latter sort.

Starting with Jayasuriya, his former teammate de Silva aptly pointed out that the veteran left-hander has had a torrid time with the bat over the last 12 months. As such, his axing was a matter of when and not if. Jayasuriya is 40 now and though the World Cup is less than a year away, the chances of him making the cut are the slimmest.

This is because, he hasn’t been contributing with the ball either. The last selection committee had made it clear that Jayasuriya was now being considered as a bowler, who could bat. And since, he has from fulfilled the criteria, the decision to drop him was a step in the right direction by de Silva and co.

The selectors have also made a progressive move by giving Farveez Maharoof another chance for the Asia Cup. Okay, he hasn’t been in the best of form lately. But, the fact is that he is the best bowling all-rounder the Lankans have in their kitty at the moment. Also, he has just fully recovered from injuries; so his past performances must be ignored, and his case must be viewed in a fresh perspective.

Further, as rightly pointed out by de Silva, Angelo Mathews is a very good batting all-rounder. And so, it was equally important for the Lankans to have someone like Maharoof in the team, with Jayasuriya not doing the job. As for the great man, it would be fair to say, he should gracefully retire.

This is not to state that Jayasuriya cannot be in contention for the World Cup team. But, even if he is selected, the chances of him making a decent impression aren’t very strong, considering his poor run of scores, which has lasted for well over a year. This clearly indicates that it is not due to lack of form, but the age factor catching up with him.

One of the biggest surprises thrown up by the new selection panel was the decision to leave out Ajantha Mendis. Interestingly, de Silva refused to term his non-inclusion as ‘dropped’, and instead stated he was left out for ‘tactical reasons’. The rationale seems rather bizarre, but it was good to see de Silva revealing that it was the result of a discussion between the captain and the team management.

When such strange choices are made, it is of utmost importance to consult the skipper and the senior players, else it can very well result into a revolt, as seem on numerous occasions in the past. For Lankan cricket’s sake, one only hopes that the secret formula works, otherwise they will have to face a lot of brickbats. On the contrary, if the risk pays off one must salute de Silva and his men.

Meanwhile, the decision to call back left-arm spinner Rangana Herath must be seen as a brave one. Herath has always performed exceedingly well in the limited opportunities that he has been presented with, and so it was only fair that Mendis’ place in the squad went to him.

Apart from his experience, he will also lend some variety to the bowling attack, which features the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan and the ever-improving Suraj Randiv.

The Lankan selectors also taught their Indian counterparts a lesson in choosing a team. While the Indians have handed ODI spots to Saurabh Tiwary and Ashok Dinda on a platter, Sri Lanka have not included Dinesh Chandimal, who recently scored a match-winning hundred against India, as well as Jeevan Mendis, who also impressed in Zimbabwe.

Putting things into perspective, the selection committee has asked them to hone their skills against an Australian A side, letting the senior and more deserving members of the team keep their place.

Deciding on a cricket team is a far from easy task. And, while de Silva and co. have taken a couple of controversial decisions, it won’t be wrong to say that, at least, they are thinking in the right direction. And, being so, the results should come sooner or later.

Resuming at their overnight score of 417/2, India continued with their good work courtesy another impressive century by Rahul Dravid and half-centuries by VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh. Sri Lanka struck back thanks to an excellent spell by Rangana Herath, who ended up with a five-wicket haul as India lost their last five wickets for a mere 29. The Indians, however, still managed to amass a mammoth 642. In response, Sri Lanka ended the day on a sedate 66/1, trailing by a huge margin of 576 runs. Tillakaratne Dilshan was the man out for the visitors.

Earlier in the day, Dravid was elements right from the start as he registered his 28th Test century and second of the series. In the process, the India great also crossed Allan Border’s Test tally to move up to number four in the record books – only Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting are ahead of him now. Continuing with the positive intent he has been showing since the start of the series, a determined Dravid led India’s charge on the second day. He went down the track fearlessly while pleasant drives and punches also kept coming regularly.

At the other end, Tendulkar also looked set for a big one. And when he was dropped in the 30s, it seemed lady luck was shining on him. He even celebrated the chance by dancing down the track and slamming Ajantha Mendis for a maximum. However, he did not last long after that. Going for a repeat of the six stroke, he holed out. Dravid, meanwhile, continued to go from strength to strength, looking almost impregnable. And so it wasn’t surprising that he was eventually out for no fault of his. Dravid’s old friend Laxman hit one straight back at Rangana Herath uppishly. The left-arm spinner could not hold on to the catch, but, as fate would have it, the ball disturbed the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Dravid having no chance to make it back to the crease. A crestfallen Dravid could do little but walk back dejectedly knowing all to well that there was a double century for the taking.

The dismissal of Dravid, however, did not stop the flow of runs. Having gotten over the unfortunate turn of events, Laxman and Yuvraj went about adding to Lanka’s agony. While Laxman brought out the fluent drives he is admired for, Yuvraj was at his murderous best against the spinners. Both Mendis and Murali, who have troubled the left-handed batsman in the past, could do precious little to unsettle Yuvraj as he raced towards his half-century. Having crossed his 50, Laxman also looked set for a big one till he was beaten in the flight from Herath. Laxman fell for 63, with the Indian score reading an imposing 613/4. From there though started a collapse of unimaginable proportions. MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and the rest of the tail failed to pick Herath and India folded up well short of 700.

India snatched back the advantage when Dilshan mistimed the first ball he faced from Zaheer Khan into the hands of debutant Pragyan Ojha. And though the Lankans fought back well, with three days to go they are in for a mighty battle.