Sri Lanka Cricket announce the squad for U19 Challenger series

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced the squad for the upcoming U19 Challenger trophy to be played in India. An overseas team will participate in the competition for the first time in the history. Challenger series is normally played between the three Indian teams at the U19 domestic level but the Indian board invited Sri Lanka this year to bring more meaning to the contest. However, it is an exciting prospect for the youngsters in India as they would be knowing that the selectors will keep an eye on their performances. SLC accepted the invitation from BCCI a couple of weeks ago which will also give the exposure to their young talent.

The tournament will be played in Mumbai where each team will lock horns against each other once as the top two teams qualify for the final. All the matches of the Challenger series will be played under floodlights. Among the key players, Prithvi Shaw will lead India A, while Himanshu Rana has been handed over the captaincy responsibilities of Team B. Abhishek Sharma will be the skipper of India C in the tournament.

Ayana Siriwardena to lead SL U19

The official website of Sri Lanka Cricket informed the news of the squad for the U19 tournament being announced which will be led by Ayana Siriwardena. The Minister of Sport, Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara ratified the 15-member squad which will travel India for their maiden Challenger series. The tournament will surely help both India and Sri Lanka to pick their core team for the upcoming U19 World Cup in 2018.

Earlier, one of the officials of BCCI had cleared that they wanted to bring more meaning to the series and hence invited Sri Lanka. “All these boys have played with each other for quite some time now. The BCCI wants to give more meaning to these contest at the same time playing a foreign team will help prepare India Under-19 team which is scheduled to play U19 World Cup next year in New Zealand,” he was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Here’s the squad of Sri Lanka U19: Ayana Siriwardena – Captain, Vishwa Chathurange, Dananjaya Lakshan, Kamil Misara, Santhush Gunathilake, Nishan Madushka, Nipun Dananjaya, Nuwanidu Fernando, Ravindu Sanjana, Hareen Buddila, Heshan Hettiarachchi, Randir Ranasinghe, Nipun Malinga, Nipun Lakshan, Kalana Perera.

Standby: Sanjeewa Priyadharshana, Kishan Sanjula, Hasitha Boyagoda, Thilan Prasan