SL vs AFG: Sri Lanka squad for one-off test against Afghanistan announced

Sri Lanka named three uncapped players for the one-off test match against Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka have announced a 16-member squad to take on Afghanistan in the one-off test at SSC, Colombo. Sri Lanka’s clash against Afghanistan will not be a part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 campaign. The test match will be played between 2nd to 6th February. Afghanistan will also play limited-overs cricket in their month long tour of Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will play three-match T20I and three-match ODI series along with the one-off test in Colombo. Sri Lanka will be beginning a new era in test cricket under newly appointed captain Dhananjaya De Silva. Right-hand batter Kusal Mendis has been appointed as Dhananjaya De Silva’s deputy in the test squad. De Silva was appointed as Sri Lanka’s test captain just a few weeks ago when Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided to reshuffle their leadership group across formats.

Sri Lanka picked three uncapped players

Sri Lanka’s 16-member squad features the experience of Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, and all-rounder Angelo Mathews. Dimuth Karunaratne was recently removed as test captain but he retained his place as opener in the squad. Selectors decided to give three uncapped players an opportunity against Afghanistan. Wicket-keeper Lahiru Udara, Pacer Chamika Gunasekara, and Milan Rathnayake earned their maiden call-up.

Sri Lankan conditions are widely known for being spin-friendly wickets but Sri Lankan team management decided to go with pace heavy attack against Afghanistan in the one-off test. Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, and Asitha Fernando also have been named in the squad along with two uncapped pace bowlers. Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, and Kamindu Mendis will take up the responsibility in the spin bowling department.

Sri Lanka played only two test matches in the ongoing cycle of ICC World Test Championship. They will resume their WTC campaign against Bangladesh in a two-match test series set to be played in March 2024. Sri Lanka faced a series defeat of 0-2 at the hands of Pakistan in their only test series in the ongoing ICC WTC cycle so far. Afghanistan suffered a major setback as Rashid Khan will not be playing in the one-off test match due to surgery.

Sri Lanka 16 Member squad against Afghanistan

Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Udara, Chamika Gunasekara, Milan Rathnayake

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