Sri Lanka named a prolific squad for their upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan beginning on Friday. Sri Lankan Cricket has named Chamika Gunasekara & Milan Rathnayake in the Test squad for the one-off Test. The announced squad also have openers in the face of Lahiru Udara & batting all-rounder Kamindu Mendis.
However, the announced squad will miss the services of Patthum Nissanka who was also a part of Sri Lanka’s last Test squad even staying away from Test since the middle of 2022. Madhushanka who is also playing in UAE in the ILt20 is not in the squad either. A similar is the case of Kusul Perera. This is the first Test squad named by the new selection committee headed by Upul Tharanga. The upcoming Test will also be Dhananjaya De Silva’s first assignment as a captain.
The rest of the announced Squad is almost the same. The equation will likely be Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka opening batting, as they did against Pakistan last year, with Kusal Mendis likely at No. 3, and Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and de Silva coming in lower down. Sadeera Samarawickrama might take up wicket-keeping duty. On the bowling front, Sri lanka will go with Ramesh Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya as their primary spin options, with the likes of Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, and Asitha Fernando to choose from on the seam-bowling front. Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, who had taken 11 wickets on debut in 2021 has been excluded from the squad as his graph declined since then.
Why Gunasekara & Ratnayake have been named in the Sri Lanka Squad for the Afghanistan Test
Uncapped Player Gunasekara has been named into the announced squad on the back of his good performances in the ongoing National Super League (NSL) four-day competition. In two matches over the last two weeks, Gunasekara has taken eight wickets at an average of 16.5. On the other hand, Rathnayake has been named in the squad on the merit of his impressive performance for the Sri Lanka A side.
This is the second Test squad Rathnayake has been selected in, though he is yet to represent Sri Lanka. Similarly, Udara who hasn’t played for the National team yet has been named into the squad after his impressive performances at the NSL. He had smashed 100 & 72 runs in Galle Test featuring Ramesh Mendis & Rathnayake, in the last fortnight. Notably, this will be the first time in the history of Sri Lanka & Afghanistan Cricket will play a Test against each other.
Sri Lanka squad for Test against Afghanistan
Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Udara, Chamika Gunasekara, Milan Rathnayake
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