The Sri Lanka Cricket selection committee has named a 15-member squad for the three-match T20 International series in Pakistan, with Kusal Mendis as captain.
The squad departs on 4 October. The T20Is will be played in Rawalpindi on 9, 11 and 13 October, the Daily Mirror reported.
The squad
Kamil Mishara, Sineth Jayawardena, Kusal Mendis (captain), Lahiru Udara, Sahan Arachchige, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga and Dushmantha Chameera (subject to fitness).
Maheesh Theekshana and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth are the specialist spin options; Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara and Eshan Malinga join Chameera as the pace group.
The notable absences
Three players who featured prominently on last month’s white-ball tour of England are missing: Wanindu Hasaranga, Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka, who was named white-ball vice-captain for that tour.
Neither the Daily Mirror nor Newswire gives a reason for any omission. Reporting elsewhere has attributed the absences of Nissanka and Hasaranga to injury — Nissanka was described as doubtful with a hamstring problem in late September, and both have been reported as targeting a return for the one-day tri-series. This desk has not been able to confirm those injury details against a verified newsroom, and they should be read as unconfirmed.
Kusal Mendis’s captaincy is continuity rather than a new appointment: he led Sri Lanka in both white-ball formats in England, and had earlier been named ODI and T20I captain for the West Indies tour.
What follows
The T20Is open a long assignment. Sri Lanka then play a one-day triangular series with Pakistan and England from 18 to 31 October, before a two-Test series beginning 9 November — the full itinerary confirmed in September, with every fixture in Rawalpindi, Lahore or Islamabad.
Squad lists for the ODI and Test legs have not been announced.