Dhananjaya de Silva to lead for the first time as Sri Lanka announce squad for only Test against Afghanistan

As part of Sri Lanka's radical captaincy shift following the 2023 ODI World Cup, all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva was appointed as skipper for red-ball cricket as a replacement for Dimuth Karunaratne. He will be leading a 16-man squad for the only Test against Afghanistan, scheduled to begin from February 2 onwards in Colombo.

The squad features a host of senior members like Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne, while wicket-keeper batter Kusal Mendis will act as Dhananjaya de Silva's deputy for the upcoming contest. Three uncapped players also mark their presence in the contingent, namely wicket-keeper batter Lahiru Udara, and pacers Chamika Gunasekara and Milan Rathnayake.

The side have surprisingly opted go pace heavy in their squad despite the match expected to be played in typical subcontinent conditions. Apart from the aforementioned debutant seamers, Sri Lanka have also named Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando in the squad.

The spin department comprises of Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis and Kamindu Mendis, alongwith Dhananjaya de Silva himself as a part-time option.

With Afghanistan not being part of the World Test Championship (WTC), the contest acts as a pre-cursor to the white-ball leg of the tour, which comprises of three ODIs and three T20Is, beginning from February 9 onwards.

Afghanistan had named their squad for the Test recently, which featured four uncapped players. The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side does not feature star spinner Rashid Khan, as he continues his recovery from surgery.

Sri Lanka lost their first series of the current WTC cycle against Pakistan

The nation, whose suspension was recently lifted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), have a huge mountain to climb in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) after losing a home series to Pakistan by a 0-2 margin in July 2023. They had attained a 2-0 series triumph on home soil against Ireland, and their last away endeavor, which came in March 2023 against New Zealand also resulted in a 0-2 loss.

Sri Lanka squad for one-off Test against Afghanistan

Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), 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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