Sri Lanka call-up Dinesh Chandimal, Kapugedera to lead in absence of Tharanga

Chandimal who has made sporadic appearances in the limited-overs team has been brought back in the team.

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Dinesh Chandimal Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka cricketer Dinesh Chandimal. (Photo by ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)

Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga was handed over a two-match suspension by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for maintaining a slow over rate in the 2nd ODI against India at Pallekele. The selectors then had the big task of picking a stand-in captain for the team. In the meeting, they decided to call-up Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal who has made sporadic appearances in the limited-overs team along with Lahiru Thirimanne. Whereas the captaincy has been handed over to Kapugedera, who will be making his debut as Lankan skipper.

After the conclusion of a scintillating Indian chase, the Match Referee Andy Pycroft found that the Sri Lankan team was three overs short of the target. That earned Tharanga his second such suspension. He had been handed over a two-match ban for a similar offence in their first encounter of the Champions Trophy earlier this year against South Africa.

Reports also suggest opener Danushka Gunathilaka who injured his shoulder while fielding in the last part of the Indian chase at point. Cricbuzz reported that he is likely to miss the 3rd and the 4th ODI of the series. Sri Lanka will thus open with Niroshan Dickwella and Thirimanne. The new skipper, Chandimal will strengthen the fragile looking middle order.

Trend of the series

The Indian team registered a thoroughly commanding win in the opening ODI of the series cruising past the Sri Lankan total with 9 wickets in hand. In the following match, the tale appeared to be rolling on the same lines but that’s when things changed. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma added a 109-run partnership but once that was broken young spinner Akila Dananjaya foxed the entire Indian middle order.

He picked 6 wickets and recreated the Ajantha Mendis’ moment to a large extent. Dananjaya smartly mixed his off-breaks with the leg-spinners and googly. The wrong’un got him 4 wickets. He was able to get through the gate and castle the timber of Kedar Jadhav, Indian captain Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul.

A resounding 8th wicket partnership between MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar worth 100 runs took the team home to one of their better wins in recent times and proved that this Indian team is a lot more than just a top heavy batting line-up.

Sri Lanka came close for the first time on the tour but were denied a victory which will dishearten them more than anything. The series stands 2-0.

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