18-year-old Avishka Fernando named in Sri Lankan ODI squad

Sri Lanka’s squad for the first two ODIs against Australia saw some surprising inclusions as they named the 18-year old Avishka Fernando who recently enjoyed success with U-19 team against England. Amila Aponso, the left-arm spinner got picked up in the squad following his performances in the Emerging team Tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka brought back their all-rounders Milinda Siriwardana and Thisara Perera who were dropped for the series against England. The recent debutants Dasun Shanaka, Chaminda Bandara and the senior duo of Farveez Maharoof and Suraj Randiv lost their places. Veteran opener Tillakaratne Dilshan made his return to the national side after having missing out the England tour due to personal reasons.

Pacers Dushmantha Chameera and Lasith Malinga continue to miss out with injuries while Nuwan Pradeep joined them after sustaining the hamstring injury in the recent Test series. This meant Suranga Lakmal is the only specialist seam bowler available to play in this squad.

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Avishka Fernando, the 18-year old right handed opening batsman, scored consecutive tons against England in the 3-match Youth ODI series. He amassed 285 runs in 3 games including a 117 and 138. Thus he became only the 7th player and 1st Sri Lankan to score consecutive tons in Youth ODIs. However, Fernando is yet to make his debut in professional cricket.

Another surprise inclusion was Amila Aponso, who picked 8 wickets in the 6 games in the South Africa Emerging Tri-Series. In addition to it, he picked up 13 wickets in a 4-day game against the South Africa Emerging XI last week. Ragama Cricket Club had Aponso’s services for whom he took 47 wickets at 20.97 and finished third on wicket-takers list in the Premier League Tournament. Aponso, earlier was named in the squad for the ODI series at home against England in 2014.

The first two ODIs of the five-matches will be played at Colombo (RPS), which starts on Sunday.

Sri Lanka ODI squad: Angelo Mathews (captain), Amila Aponso, Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dhananjaya de Silva, Avishka Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suranga Lakmal, Kusal Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Milinda Siriwardana.