Sri Lanka announce 25 men provisional squad for Tests against Pakistan

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on Monday, announced a 25 man provisional squad for two match Test series against Pakistan. The island nation is set to tour UAE to play the longest format of the game from September 28 to October 10. They will play a day match and one day-night Test match on the tour. The Day-night Test match would be the second one in the country.

The notable absent name from the squad is of Upul Tharanga which has shocked everyone. But it has been reported that the ODI skipper himself had informed the board of his unavailability as he wishes to concentrate more on improving his ODI skills. Sri Lanka have been whitewashed by India in both Test and One Day International series’.

Squad consists of young players

For now, Sri Lanka has announced a long list of 25 players for the tour but according to the rules, the squad of only 15 players is allowed to send on a tour. However, there is no news on how the number players would be scaled down to 15 and on which basis the final selection would take place.

The squad comprises of some familiar names from One Day Internationals who did well against India. Lahiru Thirimanne, Milinda Siriwardana, and Akila Dananjaya were rewarded for their good performances in the recently concluded series. Earlier today, Asela Gunaratne was ruled out of the Pakistan series as he continues to recover from the injury he sustained in the first Test against India.

The squad also boasts of some new names in Roshen Silva, Charith Asalanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama. Dhammika Prasad is also included as he too is expected to get back his fitness before the series. The absence of Prasad has haunted Sri Lanka big time as far as pace bowling is concerned in Tests. He was the lead bowler for them when India last toured the country and had also troubled their batsmen significantly.

Squad: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilruwan Perera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga, Dhammika Prasad