SL's Bhanuka withdraws his retirement announcement, wants to represent nation

Sri Lankas explosive middleorder batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa who announced his retirement from national cricket has withdrawn his resignation following a request by Sports Minister Namal RajapaksaSri Lanka Cricket on Thursday announced that pursuant to a meeting with Namal Rajapaksa Minister of Youth and Sports and after consulting the national selectors Bhanuka Rajapaksa has notified SLC that he wishes to withdraw his resignation which he tendered to SLC on January 3 with immediate effectIn his letter to SLC withdrawing his resignation he further states that he wishes to represent his country in the game he loves for years to come the SLC saidOn January 5 SLC announced that Bhanuka has informed his resignation considering his obligations towards his familyI have very carefully considered my position as a player husband and am taking this decision looking forward to fatherhood and associated familial obligations Bhanuka said in his letter of resignationHowever media reports indicated that Rajapaksas retirement was connected to the latest fitness standards introduced by the SLC The hardhitting lefthanded middleorder batsman had issues with fitness when the former head coach Mickey Arthur introduced tough fitness standardsIt was also reported that before the fitness test held on January 7 and 8 the 30yearold batter in a letter to the SLC had requested an exemption of the fitness test for all national players as they had a hectic schedule for over six months which ended on December 23 with the Lanka Premier LeagueFollowing the retirement announcement from Lankan cricket Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa had requested Bhanuka to reconsider his decisionIssuing a statement Minister Rajapaksa had said that as a young player Bhanuka should be able to move forward through challenges without taking hasty decisions regarding his careerThe minister who is the son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has stated that if there is a problem with the administration or if an injustice has been done leading to such a decision of Bhanuka there is an opportunity to interveneIn addition to the Minister former Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga had in a tweet urged Bhanukato to reconsider his decision Representing your country at the international level is not an easy task and players always face so many challenges I truly believe that BhanukaRajapak3 has a lot more to give to Sri Lankan cricket and I request him to reconsider his decision to retire from international cricket Malinga had tweetedEven though Bhanuka has withdrawn his resignation it is not decided whether he would join the upcoming ODI series starting on Sunday against ZimbabweA spokesman for the SLC told IANS that Bhanuka could be called depending on the requirement of the team However he said the selection has been already done and the squad has been announcedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever