Kept my wicketkeeping training going, thinking I would get opportunity, says Dinesh Chandimal

Galle [Sri Lanka], November 28 : Sri Lanka Test wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Chandimal said that he is hopeful of reviving his career in the team with the given opportunity in the ongoing two-match Test series against West Indies.
Chandimal was included in the Playing XI after Niroshan Dickwella was suspended for one year for breaking Covid protocols.
"I started in Tests as a wicketkeeper, batting around No. 5 and 6. After about 2015, when our senior batters retired, I had the chance to come up the order and bat at No. 4. It's not easy to bat No. 4 and keep wickets, so I didn't have the gloves. But now I've got the chance again to bat lower down and keep wickets. I'm hoping to give it everything," ESPNcricinfo quoted Chandimal as saying.
"Since I'm the keeper, I'll only get to bat at No. 6 or 7. For now, I'm at six. It's hard to bat higher than that, because sometimes you have to keep 100 or 120 overs, and given the weather in Sri Lanka, you need a break. But my job is to figure out how to bat with that last batter, and how to get the most out of the partnerships with the bowlers," he added.
His wicketkeeping was also largely excellent - on a difficult surface - in the first Test, which is particularly impressive when you consider that he had not been designated wicketkeeper in Tests since January 2017.
"In the local matches I've been playing as a wicketkeeper, and even during the World Cup, I did keep. I kept my wicketkeeping training going, thinking that I would get an opportunity that way."
Earlier, Sri Lanka had defeated West Indies by 187 runs in the first Test which concluded last week and will be squaring off again for the second Test on Monday.