Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Hosts announce 22-member preliminary squad for Test series

With an aim to revive the fading glory of Tests, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to start a two-year-long Test championship. This has come in order to provoke interest in the fans’ minds since no match would now be a dead rubber.

Nine teams will be participating in this league and will play six series each. Of these, three will be played at home and three away. Every series will comprise 2-5 games and each match will yield some points to the winning team. New Zealand will host Sri Lanka in the first series for both the teams.

New Zealand would be high on confidence after reaching the World Cup finals. They are also the 2nd ranked side in Tests, and Sri Lanka will have to fight tooth and nail to defeat them at their den. On 7th August 2019, the team announced their 22-member squad for the series. Of these, a final 15-member squad will be chosen that will play the series.

A good blend of youth and experience

The squad will be led by Dimuth Karunaratne. Under his able leadership, Sri Lanka was able to put up a fight on numerous occasions in the World Cup. Though he has scored only 180 runs in four Tests this year, one can expect him to deliver this time around.

The team has the right blend of youth and experienced players. Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera did exceedingly well in the World Cup and against Bangladesh and can be expected to make the cut for this tour as well.

Batsmen like Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal and Danushka Gunathika can also be expected to make a comeback. Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando and Suranga Lakmal might be leading the Sri Lankan pace attack. Fernando had done well in the first-class matches, while Rajitha impressed against Bangladesh. Overall, the squad looks well balanced, and some fierce competition can be expected among the contenders to make it to the final squad.

Squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Perera, Oshada Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Shehan Jayasuriya, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilruwan Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Asitha Fernando