Why the left-handed Ranatunga, who has played six of his eight Tests for his country batting at no. 3 and, scored two Test centuries in that position wants to drop down the order is rather baffling.
It is reliably understood that Ranatunga feels his future in the Sri Lanka team is at number five and not at number three, where he has made the majority of his 522 Test runs for his country.
NO. FIVE SLOT
Currently, the number five slot in the national side is occupied by the captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, who turns 33 next month. Sanjeeva (26) probably has set his sights on occupying his brother's position when he retires.
The all-important number three position will be taken by Jayantha, who scored a solid 97 batting in that position for Board President's XI against the tourists on Saturday.
The in-form Arnold, who made an attractive 85 for Colts XI against West Indies 'A' will open the batting with experienced Test batsman Duleep Samaraweera. De Saram, who took an unbeaten century off the tourists and Soysa, who bowled with a lot of fire to take three wickets in the two-day game for Colts XI, also find places on the strength of their performance.
LANKA PREFERRED
For the wicket-keeper's berth, the selectors have gone for Lanka de Silva ahead of the experienced Chamara Dunusinghe. Apart from being a product from Kurunegala, De Silva has made shown a vast improvement in his wicket-keeping and batting techniques to get the nod.
The selectors have also recalled discarded fast bowler Pramodya Wickremasinghe, giving him an opportunity to win back his place in the national side.
Wickremasinghe is among six Test players included in the eleven, the others being skipper Marvan Atapattu, Samaraweera, Ranatunga, Ruwan Kalpage and Jayantha Silva.
SRI LANKA 'A' TEAM
The Sri Lanka 'A' team : Marvan Atapattu (captain), Russel Arnold, Duleep Samaraweera, Saman Jayantha, Sanjeeva Ranatunga, Indika de Saram, Lanka de Silva (wicket-keeper), Ruwan Kalpage, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Jayantha Silva, Nuwan Soysa, Reserves Mahela Jayawardena, Nimesh Perera, Mario Villavarayan.