Sri Lanka’s Sports Ministry has formed a technical committee for probing the reasons behind the islander’s failure to win automatic qualification for the ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year.
Notably, the islanders had failed to secure direct qualification for the ICC ODI World Cup following its loss to New Zealand in the third ODI at Hamilton in March earlier this year.
The nation’s Sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe last week appointed a technical committee headed by the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya and comprising three other former national players, which had its first public appearance on Tuesday.
“We will ask the coaching management the reasons for not winning the automatic qualification,” Jayasuriya, a key player in Sri Lanka’s only World Cup win in 1996, told reporters.
“They must also give us a short term plan to improve things. These are a talented bunch of players and they should be given the necessary confidence,” he added.
Sri Lanka twice finalist in addition to the 1996 win has played every World Cup since 1975 however, it will be the first time it would be playing in a qualifying round.
Sri Lanka’s chances for automatic qualification had shattered when it lost the three-ODI series 0-2 to New Zealand in March.
The defeat saw Sri Lanka failing to move up to the eighth spot in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League table where seven other teams have already secured their spots in the tournament.
Sri Lanka will now play in the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe between June 18 and July 9. Notably, only two places for the qualifying teams in the final round are left.
The islanders will now be fighting for a slot alongside Zimbabwe and West Indies and also with either South Africa or Ireland.
The ODI World Cup will be held in October-November in India this year.