SL vs WI | Thisara Perera and Nuwan Pradeep return for West Indies T20Is
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Veteran all rounder Thisara Perera returns to the T20I squad for West Indies after being sidelined for almost a year along with Shehan Jayasuriya and Nuwan Pradeep. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka is unavailable due to a back injury as Kasun Rajitha, Bhanuka Rajapaksha and Oshada Fernando are left out.
After being dropped from the side on the back of a string of poor performances, veteran all-rounder Thisara Perera comes back into the T20I setup after almost a year. Experienced pacer Nuwan Pradeep is back in the side after being dropped after the Australia tour as young all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya also earns a call-up.
Perera regained his place in the side after an impressive domestic season, where he accumulated 194 runs batting down the order and picked 11 wickets, combined with a couple of impressive knocks in the ODI series against West Indies. The 30-year-old all-rounder was dropped for most parts of the last season, including the trip to Pakistan and India. While in Pakistan, they managed to post a victory, in India, the Islanders suffered a 2-0 loss.Â
Young guns Bhanuka Rajapaksha and Oshada Fernando who made quite some noise during the Pakistan tour failed to make it into the squad while the team management went with the experience of Pradeep over young quick Kasun Rajitha.
The spin department goes unchanged into the series being spearheaded by wrist-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and Lakshan Sandakan with left-arm spinning all-rounder Shehan joining in and off-spinning all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva around. The first of the two T20Is will be played on March 4, with the second game on March 6.Â
Sri Lanka squad: Lasith Malinga (capt), Niroshan Dickwella (vice-capt, wk), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Lahiru Madushanka
