The Sri Lanka Cricket selection committee has named a 16-member squad for the ODI Tri-Nation Series in Pakistan, with Kusal Mendis as captain and Pathum Nissanka included subject to medical clearance.
The triangular involves hosts Pakistan and England, and will be played after Sri Lanka’s T20 International series in Pakistan concludes, the Daily Mirror reported.
Sri Lanka Cricket said Nissanka will travel with the team only if he is declared medically fit.
The squad
- Pathum Nissanka
- Avishka Fernando
- Kamil Mishara
- Kusal Mendis (captain)
- Pavan Rathnayake
- Sahan Arachchige
- Kamindu Mendis
- Janith Liyanage
- Dasun Shanaka
- Dunith Wellalage
- Maheesh Theekshana
- Sachindu Colombage
- Dushmantha Chameera
- Asitha Fernando
- Dilshan Madushanka
- Eshan Malinga
Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana and Sachindu Colombage are the spin options, with Dushmantha Chameera, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka and Eshan Malinga the fast-bowling group, according to Newswire.
This is a different squad from the T20I one
The two announcements are easy to conflate, and the distinction matters: the 15-member T20I squad was named on 2 October for three matches in Rawalpindi from 9 October. This is the 16-member ODI squad for the triangular that follows.
Nine players appear in both: Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Sahan Arachchige, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera and Eshan Malinga.
Seven come in for the one-dayers — Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Pavan Rathnayake, Janith Liyanage, Sachindu Colombage, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.
Six from the T20I squad are not in this one — Sineth Jayawardena, Lahiru Udara, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Binura Fernando and Nuwan Thushara.
Nissanka returns, Hasaranga does not
Nissanka’s inclusion resolves one of the open questions from the T20I announcement, where he was among three players left out. He had been reported as doubtful with a hamstring problem in late September, and his place here is explicitly conditional on fitness.
Wanindu Hasaranga, also absent from the T20I squad, does not appear in the ODI squad either. Charith Asalanka, who captained the T20I side in England and was white-ball vice-captain on that tour, is left out of both squads.
Neither the Daily Mirror nor Newswire gives a reason for any omission, and neither reports a vice-captain for the ODI side.
The schedule
The one-day triangular runs 18 to 31 October, following the T20Is on 9, 11 and 13 October, and ahead of a two-Test series from 9 November. Every fixture on the tour is in Rawalpindi, Lahore or Islamabad, under the itinerary confirmed in September.
