Sri Lanka announce squad for the ODI series against Pakistan

Milinda Siriwardana’s performance in domestic cricket earned him a spot

Sri Lanka announced their squad for upcoming five-match one-day international series against Pakistan. Dimuth Karunaratne, the opener who was part of Sri Lanka’s original World Cup squad, has been left out. Jeevan Mendis and Dushmantha Chameera, both of who were also included in the World Cup squad, have also not been included.

Spinners Rangana Herath, Tharindu Kaushal; and seamers Nuwan Kulasekara and Dhammika Prasad too have not been included. The bowling attack will instead be led by Sachithra Senanayake and legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna; and Nuwan Pradeep, who has played just two ODIs. Unsurprisingly Lasith Malinga and Suranga Lakmal too were picked. Thisara Perera has also been named.

The batting lineup is much as expected. Kusal Perera’s inclusion is no surprise because of the excellent way he played against the Pakistan A team. Skipper Angelo Mathews and opener TM Dilshan are two other players who were almost certain to be included in the squad. Apart from these, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal and Ashan Priyanjan have also been included.

Uncapped spinner Milinda Siriwardana and Sachith Pathirana have also been named. This was expected because Siriwardana had a good domestic run. He knocked off 1144 runs at an average of 67.29. He has bowled well too. Pathirana has been chosen because of his dependable bowling skills.

Complete Squad:

Angelo Mathews (Captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Milinda Siriwardana, Ashan Priyanjan, Nuwan Pradeep, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Sachithra Senanayake, Seekuge Prasanna, Sachith Pathirana

It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka performs because they will not have the experience and expertise of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The first match of the ODI series will be played at Dambulla on July 11.