Bangladesh Tri-series 2018: Sri Lanka announce replacement for Kusal Perera

Team Sri Lanka suffered yet another major blow when their key player Kusal Perera was ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing tri-series. The islanders are currently in Bangladesh where they are involved in the tri-series against the hosts and Zimbabwe. The current plight of the series stands in a very crucial juncture with both Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka having an equal chance of making it to the finals.

A blip from the hosts, Bangladesh, could pretty well see a dramatic turn around of things as well. Amidst this backdrop, each of the three participating teams is keen on having their best combinations up and running. While Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been quite successful in doing so, team Sri Lanka seems to have faltered on this quotient.

They have lost the services of Kusal Perera, who has been ruled out of the series owing to a side strain. Earlier in the series, veteran batsman Angelo Mathews was also ruled out of the series. Mathews, who has been troubled by hamstring injuries in the last couple of years, saw the same injury demons haunting him yet again. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have named young exciting batsman Dhananjaya de Silva as the replacement for the Kusal Perera in the squad for the remainder of the series.

Dhananjaya’s lucky chance

The cricket fans would remember Dhananjaya de Silva for his gutsy knock in the Delhi Test against India recently. The Delhi Test, that was marred by the smog controversy, had seen Dhananjaya score a fighting 119 to ensure a draw for his team in the match. While the youngster has a couple of magnificent knocks in Test cricket to boast about, he is yet to show his strut in the shorter formats.

He has played 17 ODIs and 7 T20Is for Sri Lanka thus far. He would be hoping to make the opportunity count. Sri Lanka’s final league game of the tri-series will be played on Thursday, January 25, 2018. They will be taking on Bangladesh.

A win would guarantee them a place in the finals, provided Zimbabwe loses its next game, which is scheduled to be played on January 27. After the conclusion of the ODI series, the Sri Lankan team will also face off against Bangladesh in Tests and T20Is.

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