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Ford hints at promotion for de Silva
- Updated: January 1, 2017
Dhananjaya de Silva may eventually assume a top-order position, but selectors and team management are undecided on when the move should happen, head coach Graham Ford has said. De Silva has only played six Tests, but has made 615 runs at an average of 55.90 so far. He is among those now being considered for the No. 3 position ahead of the Newlands Test.
“I think the selectors were quite keen for him to spend quite a bit of time in his apprenticeship phase of Test cricket batting down the order with a view to him eventually becoming a top-order player,” Ford said. “But with what we’ve got at the moment, in terms of requirements, it may mean that he has to go up the order earlier than initially planned.”
Despite his bright start, coaches and selectors are wary of loading too much responsibility on him at this nascent stage of his career. However, his value at No. 7 is somewhat eroded on foreign tours, where he does not have second spinner Dilruwan Perera coming in at No. 8. Dilruwan had begun his international career as an opening batsman, and is far more capable of forming partnerships with de Silva than Rangana Herath, who is often the No. 8 on away tours. …
