Young middle order batsman Chamara Kapugedara forced himself back into the national side as the selectors named him in the 15 man squad that will take on Australia and India in the up-coming tri-nation series in Australia, now renamed as Commonwealth Bank Series (earlier Victoria Bitter).
Sri Lanka leaves Colombo on January 24, and will play their first game on February 5, at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Kapugedara (20), hit the limelight on Sri Lanka’s previous tour to Australia, where he made his debut in Perth and scored 22 runs in 25 balls. He has represented the country in six Tests and 22 ODIs and was dropped after the home series against Bangladesh this year.
"Chamara obviously has talent and has done well in the opportunities he got in the last few months. His ability to bowl a bit of seam too comes in handy," Ashantha de Mel, Chairman of Cricket Selectors, told ‘The Island’ on Monday.
All-rounder Dilruwan Perera (25), who made his debut in October against England has also been named in the side and de Mel said that the selectors are looking at him as back up to openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga.
The selectors have named six fast bowlers in the side, while there’s only room for a solitary specialist spinner in Muttiah Muralitharan, which means, leg-spinner Malinga Bandara gets the chop.
While Farveez Maharoof has returned from an ankle injury, Ishara Amarasinghe and Chanaka Welagedara, both of whom won their national caps this year, have been named in the side alongside Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara.
Dilhara Fernando is recovering from injury and is not expected to be fit even for Sri Lanka’s tour of West Indies, scheduled for March.
"When you have Murali in the side and when there are others like Dilshan and Sanath to chip in with the ball for a few overs, we didn’t feel there was need for an additional specialist spinner," de Mel explained.
With the Australian authorities deciding to scrap the annual tri-nation cricket series, Sri Lanka along with India and the hosts will be one of the last teams to play this tri-nation competition that was started almost three decades back with novelties such as coloured clothing and day-night games. Benson&Hedges were the sponsors of the event for close to two decades, before a ban on tobacco advertising on sports promoted them to pull out and later VB, a popular beer in Australia took over the sponsorship.
Sri Lanka last played in the tournament in 2005-2006 and reached the final and even beat Australia in the first of three finals in Adelaide before going down to Australia in the remaining two.
Sri Lanka Squad: Mahela Jayawardene (Capt), Kumar Sangakkara (V. Capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, T. M. Dilshan, Dilruwan Perera, M. Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Chanaka Welagedera and Ishara Amarasinghe.
Standbys: Mahela Udawatte, Malinga Bandara and Thilina Thushara.
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