Sri Lanka announce squad for England T20I series

Sri Lanka have announced their T20I squad for the upcoming T20I series against England. Dasun Shanaka will continue to lead the team and they have retained the core from the recent T20I series against Pakistan, which ended in 1-1. This series against England will be Sri Lanka’s last opportunity to fine-tune its combinations ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup which will be co-hosted by them. Sri Lanka are yet to announce the squad for the upcoming WT20 so this might be an important series for some of the players to cement their place for the WT20.

There are no real surprises in the squad but batter Pavan Rathnayake who scored a century in the final ODI against England gets a chance in the T20I side. Kusal Mendis is expected to open along with

Pathum Nissanka with Kusal Janith Perera and Kamil Mishara providing options at Number 3. Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya De Silva and Dasun Shanaka are likely to be the middle order with Pavan as backup.

Wanindu Hasaranga, Theekshana and Wellalage form a strong spin trio with De Silva also being an option if selected. Chameera makes a return and will spearhead the pace bowling attack with Pathirana, Eshan Malinga and Pramod Madushan. The surprise omission has been Nuwan Thushara who has been taking the new ball for Sri Lanka in the last year. Sri Lanka suffered a 2-1 ODI series loss against England and will be keen to bounce back. Sri Lanka are the co-hosts in the upcoming WT20 and they are placed in Group B along with Australia, Oman, Ireland and Zimbabwe. Dasun Shanaka will captain the side for the main event. All the three matches of this series will be played at Pallekele. It is highly likely that Sri Lanka will be announcing the squad for the WT20 after the first T20I which will take place on 30 January.Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Janith Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana, Eshan Malinga

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