The World Twenty20 of Women’s cricket would be played in the United Kingdom from 5th to 21st June. Pool B comprises of 4 teams, namely, India, England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Dropped players
Sri Lanka has announced its team for the World Twenty20. However, the selectors have not selected the top three run-getters of the Sri Lanka team in the Women’s World Cup in Australia. These three players are as follows – Shashikala Siriwardene, the team captain; Dedunu Silva, the opening batsman; and Suwini de Alwis, the all rounder. In the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup, Siriwardene was the top run-getter for Sri Lanka. She scored 72 runs at 18.00. Silva scored 68 runs at 17.00. de Alwis scored 65 runs at 16.25.
Reasons
Sources of Sri Lanka Cricket revealed that the three players were not selected due to indiscipline on part of the players, but the specific incidents in which these players were involved were not disclosed. The sources told that they were not willing to make known the reasons for Siriwardene’s dropping. The sources also said that regarding Silva and de Alwis, the team manager submitted a report after the World Cup and on the basis of this they were not included. The interim committee of the Sri Lanka Cricket suspended these players.
Selections
Siriwardene was the captain of the Sri Lanka national women’s team for the past three years. For the Women’s World Twenty20, Chamari Polgampola has been selected as the captain. The post of vice captain has been allotted to Eshani Kaushalya.