Associated Press

Colombo, March 9:

Veteran batsman Hashan Tillakaratne still has a chance to play international cricket despite his age, but his present form in domestic cricket does not warrant national selection, a Sri Lankan cricket selector said on Wednesday.

“We have not shut the door completely on Hashan. We know that he still has some cricket left in him,” Daily News quoted Sri Lanka ‘s chief selector Ashantha de Mel as saying. “His current performances in the provincial tournament does not make a strong case for us to include him in the team.”

The 37-year-old left-hander has sat out of the national side since he led Sri Lanka to its first ever 3-0 home series defeat to Australia last year, which eventually forced him to relinquish the captaincy.

His name does not figure in the list of probable selections for Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of New Zealand starting from March 24. The first Test will be played from April 4 at Napier and the second from April 11 at Wellington.