Lasith Malinga (centre) will lead the T20I squad in the two-match series against Pakistan © AFP
As many as five uncapped players have been named by Sri Lanka in their upcoming Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Pakistan, which are scheduled to be played on July 30 and August 1 respectively. The squad was announced by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in a meeting of the Selection Committee that was held on Tuesday, July 21, according to a release on SLC’s official website. Dhananjaya de Silva, Shahan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Jeffrey Vandersay and Binura Fernando were the players with no international experience whatsoever who were named in the squad. Hosts Sri Lanka take on Pakistan in the two-match series immediately after the completion of the One-Day International (ODI) series, which the latter have been leading at so far.
Sri Lanka have been having a torrid time in their home series’ against Pakistan. They conceded a 1-2 defeat to Pakistan in the Test series, with Yasir Shah being the highlight among the visitors with 24 wickets from three Tests. In the ODIs, the tourists got off to a winning start with a win in the first ODI. Sri Lanka levelled the series with two-wicket win in the second game. Pakistan then went on to win the third man one-sidedly, winning it by 135 runs, before sealing the series with a seven-wicket thrashing of the Lankans in the fourth game at Colombo.
Sri Lanka T20I squad: Lasith Malinga (c), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kithruwan Vithanage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Thisara Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Kulasekara, Binura Fernando, Chaturanga de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana.