The Sri Lankan Cricket Board announced the squad for the five match ODI series against India on Tuesday.
There were hard calls taken by the selectors, as they dropped experienced pacer Nuwan Kulasekara, who was part of the last three ODIs against Zimbabwe. Apart from him, Lahiru Kumara has also been dropped. He failed to impress the selectors in the Test series against India and went for runs at quite a high economy rate. Asela Gunaratne and Nuwan Pradeep had already been ruled out due to respective injuries.
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There were no signs of inclusion of Dinesh Chandimal, who was dropped after the Champions Trophy for the Zimbabwe series.
Thisara Perea, who was asked to return back to Sri Lanka from England, was recalled to the side. Vishwa Fernando and Milinda Siriwrdana are some other names who have made it to the team for the ODI series.
This will be the first ever series for new skipper Upul Tharanga as a captain, as he replaced Angelo Matthews in the role after the latter stepped down from the post of the captaincy after suffering a defeat against Zimbabwe by a margin of 3-2.
Surely, the loss against Zimbabwe and now a poor show against India in the Test series will have an impact on the Lankan team in the series and there are high chances of Virat Kohli-led team emulating their Test success in the ODI series as well.
Meanwhile, Indian selectors too named the squad for the series. The selectors have rested the likes of Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami and Yuvraj Singh, whereas, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin were dropped due to the rotation policy, as per the selection panel.
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey and Yuzvendra Chahal have made a comeback in the team, whereas, Shardul Thakur has received his maiden call-up in the limited overs format.
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The ODI series will kick off on August 20, with the first match to be played in Dambulla.
Sri Lanka Squad for ODI series –
Upul Tharanga (c), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando.
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Watch the players, hosts have picked up for the limited overs fixtures against India.