Discarded Kaushal confident of Test return after Down Under stint
Kaushal Silva completed a successful season in Victoria after being discarded - File pic
Former Test cricketer Kaushal Silva is hoping for a return to the national team following a successful cricket season in Australia.
The gritty right-handed opening batsmen led his club Greenvale Kangaroos in the Victorian premier cricket and racked up 600 runs at an average of 46.15 in his debut season.
Over the years Kaushal has been a prolific run scorer for SSC at the domestic level, but he felt that it was better if he played the premier cricket season in Australia as he saw it as an opportunity to revive his Test career.
“I wanted a different challenge. I have played enough domestic seasons in Sri Lanka and been a consistent run scorer for over 10 years. I felt there was nothing more to prove myself in our domestic tournament,” Kaushal said during an interview with the Sunday Times.
Silva played his last Test in November 2018 against England. Though he was picked for the South Africa tour last year, he was not selected to play. Then he had a county stint in England and made his debut in the Sussex Cricket League to prepare himself for the Test series against New Zealand. However, the wicket keeper-batsman said he was disappointed after being overlooked for the 15-member squad.
“I was planning to get myself ready for the series by going to England and play some cricket over there. I was a contracted player at that time and I got permission from the cricket board, explaining the purpose of my tour to England to the selectors and the reasons behind the need of playing cricket there. I played in Sussex and scored well and was waiting to hear from the selectors. Unfortunately, all my hard work during the domestic season and my preparation was in vain because I didn’t get picked for the series against New Zealand,” he lamented.
On a positive note, he said that it was a great experience for him as he played with some great players in England. He believes that the quality of English domestic competition is one of the best experiences a professional cricketer can get, if he hopes to return to international cricket.
Kaushal made his international debut in 2011 against Pakistan. This was a reward for his consistency at the domestic level and achieving his dream to play for the national team.
“Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. I value my Test cap more than anything else. I believe if I got the opportunity early it wouldn’t be the same. Test cricket is something that tests not only your skills but also your character,” the former Thomian cricketer said.
Kaushal admitted that there’s a gap between the standard of domestic and international cricket in Sri Lanka.
“I believe there is a small gap between the standard of our domestic and international cricket but what is more important is how you adjust yourself to that. I think that’s what our players are lacking. They can’t adjust themselves quickly to play international cricket. I believe if you continuously play three to four years of first-class cricket, you will gain enough experience to adjust yourself. But when you get picked without playing at least two full first-class seasons, then it’s very tough as a player to survive at international level,” he said.
Kaushal has been part of some of the greatest moments in Sri Lanka cricket. He played an important role when Sri Lanka got their first Test series win in England in 2014 and he was also a member of the team that whitewashed the Australians on home soil in 2016.
“I think it is one of the best series I have played so far in my career. We had a really good plan before going in to that series. I can remember the Test series was after the one-day games and the Test players went two weeks prior and we had a training camp in Sussex. It was really helpful and we prepared ourselves really well before the series. We knew if we could take the shine off the new ball, our middle order will get runs. I did what the team wanted and ultimately I performed as well,” he recalled with a sense of satisfaction.
“Whitewashing the Australians was more memorable because we have never done that until then. That series had its ups and downs right through and for me to score a hundred for a winning cause was even more memorable,” said Kaushal.
On his future expectations, he said: “I believe that I have got a few more years left in me. I have scored nearly 14,000 first class runs up to now. In the last three seasons I have been among the top three run-getters in the domestic tournament. I believe my bat has justified that I am good enough to get an opportunity again.”
He was encouraged by the performance of the national team, but wished there were players who could be looked up as role models.
“We have been doing well in the last couple of series which is pleasing to see. It will encourage the team to go forward. I believe as a group we need to improve immensely in the values that each player carries. I mean not only as a cricketer but also as a role model to others. We had cricketers in the past who were role models and we still look to follow them. The question is whether we have those role models in our team at present? I believe our skills will take you to a certain degree but to make legends of the game we need to cultivate values among our players,” said Kaushal urging players to dig their heels in for the long haul once they get into the team.
“Those days the players had to fight hard and perform continuously for a long period to get in to the team. But now most players get their opportunity fairly quickly but continuity in the team is not there. It is easy to get into the team but to be successful for a prolonged period is the challenge. It needs personal values and that needs to be maintained with team values as well. I hope we as a team, move forward in those lines otherwise it is going to be bumpy road ahead,” pointed out Kaushal.