Women's World Cup 2025: Sri Lanka announce 15-member squad, Chamari Athapaththu to lead

Sri Lanka Women have announced their 15-member squad for the Women's World Cup 2025, which is scheduled to commence on September 30. Seasoned batting all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu will once again lead the team at the mega event.

There is plenty of experience in the squad with the likes of Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshika Silva and Anushka Sanjeewani present along with Athapaththu. Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari will spearhead the bowling attack while Udeshika Prabodani and Malki Madara will act as crucial support for the two.

The Lankan outfit also includes the likes of Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunarathne, Kavisha Dilhari, Imesha Dulani, Dewmi Vihanga and Piumi Wathsala and all-rounder Achini Kulasuriya. Right-arm off-spinner Inoshi Fernando has been included as a travelling reserve.

Sri Lanka's squad for Women's World Cup 2025: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunarathne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi De Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani, Imesha Dulani, Dewmi Vihanga, Piumi Wathsala, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodani, Malki Madara, Achini Kulasooriya

Travelling reserve: Inoshi Fernando

Sri Lanka are the co-hosts of the 13th installment of the Women's World Cup alongside India. They will play five out of seven matches at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo while the other two round-robin matches will in Guwahati and Navi Mumbai, respectively.

The Athapaththu-led team will be aiming to makeg the most of their participation in the Women's World Cup 2025 after not being a part of the 2022 edition.

Sri Lanka were part of the Women's World Cup Qualifier in 2021, which was supposed to decide the final three spots for the tournament. However, the qualifying event was called off midway due to emergence of a new COVID variant (Omicron).

The ICC made the final decision of awarding the final spots based on the ODI team rankings. At that point in time, Bangladesh, Pakistan and West Indies were ranked higher than Sri Lanka in the Women’s ODI rankings, which meant they failed to qualify.