Niroshan Dickwella has been recalled to Sri Lanka’s T20I squad for the first time since 2021 after selectors named a 15-member side for the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games.
Sahan Arachchige will captain the team. Ashen Bandara also returns, having last played an international in 2023.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s selection committee left out most of its first-choice T20I players. Dickwella and Bandara were picked for their experience despite modest returns in this year’s Lanka Premier League, where Dickwella scored 110 runs at a strike rate of 142.85 for Dambulla Sixers and Bandara managed 28 runs in three matches for Colombo Kaps.
Four maiden call-ups
Sohan de Livera, Sineth Jayawardena, Wanuja Sahan and Garuka Sanketh received their first T20I call-ups.
Arachchige, a left-arm spin-bowling allrounder, took nine wickets in ten LPL outings this season at an economy rate of 6.30, including a Player-of-the-Match return of 2 for 8 in the Eliminator.
Fixtures and travel
Sri Lanka qualified directly for the quarter-finals and opens its campaign on 29 September. Daily Mirror placed the venue at “Nissin”; the tournament is being played at Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin, in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, as part of the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Sri Lanka Cricket said the team leaves for Japan on 24 September.
Squad: Sahan Arachchige (c), Sohan de Livera, Wanuja Sahan, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Ashen Bandara, Dushan Hemantha, Lasith Croospulle, Chamika Karunaratne, Nuwan Thushara, Sineth Jayawardena, Tharindu Ratnayake, Binura Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Garuka Sanketh.
Sri Lanka’s women’s team took silver at the same Games on Tuesday, bowled out for 69 chasing 217 against India in the gold medal match at Nisshin.
