New Delhi. The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Tuesday announced its team for the T20 series against India. Charith Asalanka has been made the new T20 captain of Sri Lanka. Wanindu Hasaranga resigned from his post 11 days ago after Sri Lanka's poor performance in the T20 World Cup held in America and West Indies. Now 27-year-old middle order batsman Asalanka has been given the command in his place.
Dhananjaya de Silva is still the Test captain, but the board has not indicated whether it plans to make any changes to the ODI team led by Kusal Mendis. The three-match T20 series will begin on Saturday at Pallekele in Kandy. Earlier, the Indian team arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday. The three-match ODI series starting on August 2 will be played at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Sri Lanka announces the T20I squad for the India series, with Asalanka named as captain. #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/O5oeyFtLHU
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 23, 2024
Asalanka captained Sri Lanka in two T20 matches on the Bangladesh tour earlier this year when then captain Hasaranga was serving a suspension. He has also captained Sri Lanka Under-19 and recently led Jaffna Kings to the LPL title, taking over from Thisara Perera at the start of the season.
The other big news is the return of 34-year-old Dinesh Chandimal to Sri Lanka's T20 squad. He last played a T20 in early 2022, but his form in this year's LPL, in which he opened the innings and scored 287 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 168 – much higher than his career strike rate of 123.03 – made a strong case for his inclusion. But the arrival of one veteran also led to the exit of another, and now 37-year-old Angelo Mathews has been dropped from the team, even though he also performed well in the LPL.
There is another surprise name in the Sri Lankan squad. Uncapped Chamindu Wickramasinghe has been included. The 21-year-old all-rounder from Kandy, who has been spending time at the MRF Pace Academy in India, caught the selectors' attention after the LPL last month. The right-arm fast bowler who can also bat, also batted brilliantly in the lower order for his team Dambulla Sixers. He took seven wickets in 8 matches and also scored 186 runs at a strike rate of 131.91 – including two half-centuries.
Sri Lanka team for T20 series against India
Charith Asalanka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Janith Perera (wicketkeeper), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Welalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando.
