Dhananjaya Lakshan and Ishan Jayaratne, the duo of fast bowling all-rounders tested positive on Saturday and have been put into quarantine for 14 days.
Ahead of their England tour next month, two Sri Lanka cricketers, who are part of a provisional 28-man squad, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Dhananjaya Lakshan And Ishan Jayaratne, Part Of Provisional 28 Man Squad Tested Covid-19 Positive
According to a report in Daily FT, 40 Sri Lankan cricketers were given their first dose of vaccine against coronavirus on Saturday at the National Blood Bank after an antigen test. The duo, though, was not part of the 18-man Sri Lanka squad that was set to leave for Bangladesh on 16 May for a three-match ODI series in Dhaka.
The ODI series vs Bangladesh will be played from May 23. After the Bangladesh tour, Sri Lanka will fly to England where they are to play three T20Is followed by as many ODIs. Prior to the white-ball matches, the touring party will also play two practice matches against Kent (one day) on June 18 and Sussex (T20) on June 20.
The T20I series between Sri Lanka and England gets underway from June 23 with the first two matches to be played in Cardiff before the series finale in Southampton. The ODIs will be played in Chester-le-Street, London, and Bristol.
The right-arm pacer and left-handed batsman Dhananjaya Lakshan has played 12 first-class, 15 List A, and 29 T20 games averaging 37.8 with the bat in List A and less than 27 with the ball in all 3 formats- 1st Class, List A, and T20. Dhananjaya Lakshan has 1 ton each in List A and first-class, the highest being 141.
Ishan Jayaratne is more experienced as he has played 81 first-class, 96 List A, and 51 T20 games picking more than 350 wickets combined. His batting average though hasn’t been more than 23 in either of the 3 formats.
Sourav Ganguly: India Team To Tour Sri Lanka For 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is
Meanwhile, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, in an interview with Sportstar, has indicated that an Indian team could tour Sri Lanka for white-ball matches.
While responding to a query about whether the remainder of IPL 2021 could be staged in India, Ganguly replied negatively and said, “India is supposed to go to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and five T20Is. There are lots of organizational hazards like 14-day quarantine.”
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly also announced a white-ball tour of India to Sri Lanka in July, consisting of three ODIs and five T20Is. However, when asked about the rescheduling of IPL 2021, the former Indian captain underlined that there exists plenty of organizational hazards like the quarantine and is uncertain about its timeline and venue. Along with England, the Island country has offered to host the remaining 31 matches of the competition.
A ‘specialist’ Indian limited-overs team may travel to Sri Lanka sometime in July as the main Indian continent comprising of 20 players with four as standby are set to leave for a four-month-long tour of England in early June. The tour to Sri Lanka provides a massive opportunity for some of the big players who were left out of the contingent and also for other white-ball specialists.
A possible best XI:
Prithvi Shaw/ Devdutt Padikkal, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson/ Manish Pandey/ Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya/ Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Avesh Khan/ Harshal Patel