Dinesh Chandimal is back to Sri Lanka’s men’s T20I team. It was confirmed when Sri Lanka Cricket revealed the 16-man squad that will face India in a three-match series beginning July 27. The 27-year-old Charith Asalanka has been named captain of the squad, replacing Wanindu Hasaranga, who quit a few days earlier.
And Asalanka is no stranger to captaincy. He captained Sri Lanka in two T20Is on their tour of Bangladesh earlier this year. When Hasaranga, the captain at the time, was suspended. He has also captained the Sri Lanka Under-19s. Also, most recently, led Jaffna Kings to the LPL title after taking over from Thisara Perera at the beginning of the season.
Strong Performance By Sri Lanka’s Chandimal
The return of Dinesh Chandimal, 34, to Sri Lanka’s T20I squad is a major development. He last played a T20I in early 2022. But his form in the LPL this year, when he struck 287 runs over eight matches at a strike rate of 168.82. Dinesh Chandimal opened the innings with a strike rate much above his lifetime average of 123.03. He made a strong argument for his inclusion.
However, as one stalwart entered, Angelo Mathews, aged 37, was left out of the squad despite having had a successful season in the LPL. Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, and Binura Fernando will also return. However, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Dilshan Madushanka will be left out. Madushanka’s absence may be the most shocking of the bunch, but it is also the position in which Sri Lanka presently has the greatest depth. While his 21 wickets in the 2023 ODI World Cup may still be fresh in the memory, he did not play a single game at this year’s T20 World Cup and took only two wickets in six LPL games for the Dambulla Sixers.
Binura Fernando has replaced Madushanka in the lineup, thanks in large part to a great LPL performance. The 29-year-old left-arm fast has been in the Sri Lankan system for quite some time, having made his debut in 2015. This year, however, was a watershed moment. As Fernando took the LPL by storm, with his smart variations allowing him to pick up 13 wickets in eight games at a miserly economic rate of 6.81. Similarly, he put his body to the test. Finished the season after playing four games in five days.
Kusal and Avishka’s Impressive LPL Innings
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Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando are two more players establishing their claim after a strong LPL season. The former, like Wickramasinghe, joined the Dambulla franchise after going unsold in the auction. This came after he was unexpectedly left out of Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup squad. However, Perera seized this new opportunity with both hands. He scored 296 runs in eight games at a strike rate of 169.14, including two fifties and a maiden T20 century. All at the top of the order. Avishka, on the other hand, made the No. 4 job his own to help Jaffna Kings win the title after missing out on the T20 World Cup due to strong competition in the top two positions.
In 10 LPL innings, he hit 374 runs at a strike rate of 162.60. It includes five fifty-plus scores. He finished the season as the third-highest run-scorer and could have topped the rankings if he had been allowed to bat in the final. The rest of the team delivers as predicted, with Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, and Wanindu Hasaranga rounding out a formidable batting lineup.
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