SLC name squad for Afghanistan Test

Sri Lanka had their first training session at the SSC Grounds yesterday. (Pic courtesy SLC)   

By Bipin Dani   

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Selection Committee has named a 16-member squad to take part in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, which begins on Friday at the SSC Grounds in Maitland Place.   

The Minister of Sports Harin Fernando has approved the squad and the first training session of the team took place yesterday at the SSC Grounds.   
There has been no change in the SLC support staff which served the team in the last series against Zimbabwe, except for the trainer and Dilshan Fonseka is set to train the home team for the series against Afghanistan.   

According to highly-placed sources at SLC, he will take charge from Gayan Weerarathne, the Strength and Conditioning Coach, who was in charge of the Sri Lankan team against the recently concluded Zimbabwe series.   

Meanwhile, the visiting Afghanistan team also had its first training session in Sri Lanka yesterday.   

Interestingly, this will be the first time Afghanistan are facing Sri Lanka in a Test match. Afghanistan have so far played only seven Tests since their debut five years ago. In the last Test, they played against Bangladesh in June last year they lost by a whopping 546 runs in Mirpur.   

Apart from the one-off Test, the visiting team will also play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20Is in Kandy and Dambulla. 

 
The Sri Lanka Test Squad:

Dhananjaya de Silva – Captain, Kusal Mendis – Vice-Captain, Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Udara, Chamika Gunasekara and Milan Rathnayake.