Kusal Perera has been named new ODI captain and Kusal Mendis has been recalled and made vice-captain, while Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal have been dropped in a major shake-up of Sri Lanka’s ODI team.
In naming a young squad, Sri Lanka’s new selection committee – headed by Pramodya Wickramasinghe – and coach Mickey Arthur are seeking to aggressively develop a fresh set of limited-overs players with a view to the 2023 World Cup. Across the 18 players named, only 33-year-old Isuru Udana is older than 31, and just three players are above 30.
The selectors had wanted Avishka Fernando in the squad, but he failed a fitness test which according to the strict selection policy put in place by Arthur ruled him out of contention. Fernando had also missed the tour of West Indies in February for the same reason.
Squad: Kusal Perera (capt), Kusal Mendis (vice-capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Dasun Shanaka, Ashen Bandara, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Niroshan Dickwella, Dushmantha Chameera, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando
More to follow…
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf
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