Sri Lanka to be without Dinesh Chandimal in the Asia Cup 2018

Less than a week ahead of the Asia Cup 2018, the Sri Lankan team has been dealt a huge blow. Their Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal will not be able to take part in the tournament since he failed to recover from a figure injury. Chandimal hasn’t made enough progress to be match fit and thus had to be replaced in the squad.

He had sustained the finger injury during the SLC T20 League 2018. Sri Lanka Cricket selectors have named wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella as his replacement in the 16-man squad. SLC in a statement mentioned that Chandimal will need more time to recover and thus has been released from the squad. Dickwella, on the other hand, makes his way in since he was already on the list of standby players.

Chandimal who has played 139 ODIs and scored over 3400 runs hasn’t quite had a consistent run so far in 2018. He last played an ODI against Bangladesh in January this year and in five matches has only managed 139 runs.

Dickwella on the other hand is a more aggressive player who bats with a high strike rate and given the fact that he is a risk taker has an ordinary looking average of 32. The 25-year-old has played 41 ODIs in his career and has 1232 runs to his name. It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka fit this replacement into the XI.

They are in Group B alongside Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Sri Lanka will have to ensure that they win both the matches to sail smoothly into the Super Four or will have to rely on one other result to go their way. Their campaign gets underway on September 15 against Bangladesh in the inaugural match of the tournament.

Sri Lanka squad for the Asia Cup 2018:

Angelo Mathews (C), Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga, Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Dhanajaya de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Dilruwan Perera, Amila Aponso, Kasun Rajitha, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera and Lasith Malinga.

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