Sri Lanka announce T20I squad for India series; recall Angelo Mathews
After a hiatus of almost a year and a half, former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has been recalled in Sri Lanka's T20I squad against India. The last time Mathews played a T20I for the Lankans was as a captain, in a one-off game against South Africa in 2018, in which he was dismissed for no runs.
Veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga will be at the helm of the team that includes four quicks and three spinners. With the spin-friendly conditions at home, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva and left-arm leg-spinner Lakshan Sandakan will be crucial to the team.
Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who played in the T20I series against Australia in November and was among the better performers for the team, is injured and has been replaced by Kasun Rajitha. Isuru Udana and Lahiru Kumara are the other quicks in the squad.
As for India, star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah will make a return to the team after being named in both T20I and ODI squads for Sri Lanka and Australia series respectively.
This will be Sri Lanka’s sole T20I series this year before the ICC T20 World Cup, which means this is their last practice series at the international level for the tournament.
Meanwhile, India will play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand in February. Sri Lanka are coming into the series after suffering a series loss to Australia, while India beat the West Indies at home last month.
The three T20Is against India will be played in Guwahati on January 5th, Indore on January 7th and Pune on January 10th.
Sri Lanka T20I squad for India tour: Lasith Malinga (c), Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Dhananjaya de Silva, Lahiru Kumara, Isuru Udana.