Sri Lankan Cricket Board has announced a 15-member squad for the home Test series against Bangladesh which begins from March 7 in Galle.
In the absence of Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath has been named as the stand-in captain for the two games. This is the second time when he has been handed over the baton after he did it once against Zimbabwe last year.
The squad selected for the series has the nice blend of experience and talented youngsters. Making his debut to the side is Malinda Pushpakumara, a left-arm orthodox spinner, who helped Sri Lanka A team to a three-wicket win over the England Lions in the 2nd unofficial test match at Dambulla on February 27.
However, senior batsman Dinesh Chandimal also misses out from the squad. The second game will be played in Colombo on March 15, which happens to be Bangladesh’s 100th overall Test match. They made their Test debut in 2000 and will be the last of the Test playing nation to achieve such a feat.
Three ODI’s and two T20Is will follow the Test series.
Squad:
Rangana Herath (Captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Vikum Sanjaya Bandara, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Malinda Pushpakumara.