Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga Included In The 15-Man Sri Lanka Champions Trophy Squad
Apr 24, 2017 at 1:04 PM
Skipper Angelo Mathews and fast bowler Lasith Malinga are set to bolster Sri Lanka’s Champions Trophy campaign. The highly experienced individuals, who were out of action for a long time due to injuries, have been included in the 15-Man squad for the all-important tournament.
The selectors have also declared a list of standby players and substitutes. The standby players include Dilruwan Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka while Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Sachith Pathirana, Milinda Siriwardana and Akila Dhananjaya have will be flying to England as substitutions.
Mathews takes back the captaincy duties while Upul Tharanga, who was the stand –in skipper in Mathews’ absence, takes up the vice captain’s role.
Sri Lanka missed Mathews and Malinga’s services dearly as their absence meant the side appeared very inexperienced. Mathews was struggling with an ankle injury which he suffered in January during the tour of South Africa.
He was expected to recover fully ahead of the Bangladesh’s visit but failed and had to miss the entire series against visitors. The injury also postponed his participation in the IPL and he was able to join his franchise Delhi Daredevils only after missing the start of the season.
Malinga’s place in the Champions Trophy squad was also in doubt. He was undergoing a time-consuming rehabilitation for his knee injury. However, Sri Lanka was boosted by his return during the T20 series against Australia and the home series against Bangladesh.
His relationship with the knee problem is in continuance since November 2015. The problem has cut short his appearances for the national team by a huge margin. Malinga played only one match in all of 2016 which was in the Asia Cup T20 before withdrawing from the World T20. He returned to training in September 2016 but a bout of dengue before Christmas stalled his rehabilitation.
Thisara Perera is the only other name who is returning to the big level after facing a bit of downtime. He made his comeback in the national team in the T20 leg of the Bangladesh series after impressing in the domestic circuit. Satisfying performances in the series has now earned him a place in the team to compete in the prestigious tournament.
Kusal Mendis, Aseala Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella and Lakshan Sandakan are some of the rising names in the squad. The rest of the squad has regulars like Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dinesh Chandimal among others.
Sri Lanka squad: Angelo Mathews (capt), Upul Tharanga (vice-capt), Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Seekkuge Prasanna
Standby on tour – Dilruwan Perera, Dhanushka Gunathilake.
Substitutes on tour – Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Sachith Pathirana, Milinda Siriwardana and Akila Dhananjaya.