Siriwardena to lead Sri Lanka A; Thisara and KJP included
Wednesday, 01 March 2017 - 15:48 | Views - 1,443

Milinda Siriwardena has been named Captain of the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team to face the England Lions in the five-match one-day series which starts tomorrow (2nd March) at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
The two-match unofficial Test series ended 1-1 and the limited-overs games will be closely contested with many international players on display.
The notable inclusions in the 15-man squad for the first three games are explosive opening batsman Kusal Janith Perera, who was dropped from the Bangladesh Tests, and all-rounder Thisara Perera.
Kusal Perera, who has been in poor form in both international and domestic cricket recently, will look to get back into form through this series.
Thisara Perera, who has been out of the national limited-overs squads since the Australian series will need to prove a point to the selectors ahead of the Bangladesh ODIs and T20Is.
Sadeera Samarawickrama, who cracked a stunning 185 on his Sri Lanka A debut last week, has also been added to the Sri Lanka A one-day squad alongside Tamil Union C & AC skipper Kithruwan Vithanage.
Left-handed Vithanage was handed a suspension by SLC in July 2016 for a public brawl but the ban was lifted prior to the domestic season.
Dhanushka Gunathilake, who was sent home prior to the South Africa T20I series due to a back injury, has also earned a call-up subject to fitness test results. Sandun Weerakkody and Lahiru Madushanka who made their international debuts have also been added into the 15-man squad.
Vikum Sanjaya and Malinda Pushpakumara who were named in the Sri Lanka Test squad for the Bangladesh Tests have also been included which indicates that they will not get any game time with the national team and will only be called upon for national duty if needed.