India v Sri Lanka 2014: Kumar Sangakkara and Dhammika Prasad rested for final two ODIs

Kumar Sangakkara (L)

Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) team manager Michael de Zoysa has confirmed that Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Shaminda Eranga and Ajanta Mendis will replace Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Dhammika Prasad and Suraj Randiv for the final two ODIs of the ongoing bilateral series against India. 

Zoysa further said that while Sangakkara and Prasad have been rested to manage their workload ahead of World Cup 2015, which starts from February 14 in Australia and New Zealand, Randiv and Tharanga have been dropped in favour of Eranga and Mendis. 

Prasad, the 31-year-old right arm pacer, has all but cemented his place in the Sri Lankan squad, on the back of impressive performances in 2014, particularly in Test cricket where he has picked up 11 wickets in 3 matches. That Nuwan Kulasekara is only looking a pale shadow of his former self and Lasith Malinga is still recuperating from a knee injury only swings it in his favour. 

Tharanga’s spot, on the other hand, looks to be in threat; the 29-year-old was only recently recalled into the set-up, but has been dropped following a series of no-shows with the bat in ODIs – his last 5 ODI scores read 24, 18, 27, 14 and 28. 

Playing his first ODI after three years, Randiv looked largely ineffective and is not surprisingly overlooked for Mendis, who has been named in the ICC ODI team of the year. 

2 matches into the series, the Islanders haven’t opened their account, yet. The 3rd ODI will be played at Hyderabad on November 9.