Tillakaratne Dilshan to skip England tour

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Tillakaratne Dilshan
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Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan. (Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)

39-year old Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has announced that he would not be boarding the flight to England for the ODI series. The former skipper of the Lankan side informed that he would not be able to go on the tour citing personal reasons. The tour will see the Lankans play five ODIs and a T20 international in England and two ODIs in Dublin soon after the third Test. At the moment, reports seem to suggest that he has pulled out for solely personal reasons.

The news has certainly hit the team in the head as the senior-most batsman in ODIs for the Lankans is Dilshan at the moment. In the past two years, the right-hander has hit 1207 ODI runs at an average of 52.47. That aggregate put him third on the year’s run-scorers’ list.

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While it certainly will be counted as a massive blow to the team, it extends the inexperience of the top order batting. Kusal Perera is tipped in contention to replace the experienced absentee. The former had recently cleared a doping test after months of speculation thrust on him by the SLC as well as the ICC. However, the Lankan selectors are met with a challenge as they look for a partner for the returning Perera.

Having retired from Test cricket in 2013, Dilshan refused to comment on the fact whether he would indeed retire from the shorter formats of the game or not. The ODIs commence on June 16, in Ireland, before Sri Lanka return to play England. The first match of that series is at Nottingham on June 21.

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