Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: Hosts name a 22-member squad for the ODI series

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will not have too much of a break post the World Cup 2019. These two teams will soon be involved in a three-match ODI series which is set to commence from 26th July. All these games will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. For this series, Sri Lanka came up with a whopping 22-member squad with many of the familiar faces returning.

The likes of Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka, Akila Dhananjaya and Lakshan Sandakan have returned to the team. All these players missed out on playing the World Cup 2019 and have got another chance of redeeming themselves. With these four players returning, Milinda Siriwardene, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal and Jeffrey Vandersay have been axed from the side.

Farewell series for Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga is likely to retire after this ODI series against Bangladesh and is expected to be a part of the eleven in all of these matches. Also, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has decided to continue with Dimuth Karunaratne as the skipper of the side. With the conditions in the subcontinent favouring spin, the Sri Lanka squad is stocked with spinners.

Lahiru Madushanka was included in the squad after some impressive all-round performances in South Africa for Sri Lanka emerging team recently. With Thisara Perera and Isuru Udana not quite living up to the expectations, the selectors might look at him as a possible option for the future. Asela Gunathilaka was quite fortunate to have made it to the final cut as he hasn’t played much cricket of late due to his disciplinary track record.

Sri Lanka is clearly looking at this series to experiment around with their players and find the best possible combination. Team selection could get quite tricky for the captain and the management and this will certainly put pressure on the top-six that played in the World Cup.

Sri Lanka squad for Bangladesh ODIs:

Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lahiru Madushanka.