Sri Lanka’s U19 squad are all set to compete in the upcoming U19 Asia Cup in the UAE and the ICC U19 World Cup 2022 in the West Indies.
Following a couple of thumping series wins in the last two tours, the squad is now settled for their end-goal, the ICC Youth World Cup which will begin on the 14th of January 2022.
Sri Lanka defeated the defending U19 World Cup Champions Bangladesh U19 and the England U19s in home tours in the last couple of months.
Prior to the World Cup, the youth team will leave for the Youth Asia Cup tournament in the UAE on the 20th of December. The Youth Asia Cup will be played from the 23rd to 31st of December 2021.
The U19 head coach Avishka Gunawardena has hinted that the squad selected for the Asia Cup will be the same that will be sent for the World Cup too.
“I am quite satisfied with how things have worked out. I keep pushing the players to do better and there is always room for improvement. I think more or less we are there in our plans and we are on the right track. The good thing is the guys keep improving.” Gunawardena told the Daily FT.
Skipper Dunith Wellalage has cemented his place as the leader of the pack while the Nalandian Raveen de Silva will be his deputy. Along with those two, a few other cricketers have announced themselves as mainstays in the playing XI.
“We have recognized who our no. 1 and no. 2 wicket-keepers are. Anjala Bandara is no. 1, and no. 2 is Sadeesh Jayawardena. The opening and no. 3 positions we have a pretty good idea of whom we want to bat, but it all depends on the composition of the side and the opposition. We have told the batsmen just to be ready to play anywhere at any given time, if the team needs someone to go up the order and bat. Numbers 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the batting are quite concrete,” Gunawardena added.
Gunawardena is highly confident of his bowling unit and mentioned that the bowling unit is the strength of this Sri Lanka U19 outfit. “Our bowling unit has done very well from the Bangladesh series till now. The English team had about seven players who were playing first-class cricket in England, it is just that our boys surprised them with their good bowling.”
Young Trinitian, Pawan Pathiraja is certainly one such cricketer who will most probably be Sri Lanka U19’s fixed No.4 bat. The left-hander was in sublime form throughout the last two series scoring 374 runs with 3 fifties and a hundred.
Thomian Yasiru Rodrigo, Trinitian Matheesha Pathirana, Nalandian Vinuja Ranpul and Peterite Wanuja Sahan are a few other names who have backed themselves with performances to make it to the starting XI.
The following will be the most likely squad that will make it to the big tournaments, ThePapare.com learns.
Sri Lanka U19 Probable Squad
- Dunith Wellalage (Captain – St. Joseph’s College, Colombo)
- Raveen De Silva (Nalanda College, Colombo)
- Sadeesh Jayawardena (St. Joseph’s College, Colombo)
- Pawan Pathiraja (Trinity College, Kandy)
- Chamindu Wickramasinghe (St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota)
- Vinuja Ranpul (Nalanda College, Colombo)
- Sadisha Rajapaksa (Royal College, Colombo)
- Shevon Daniel (St. Joseph’s College, Colombo)
- Malsha Tharupathi (Richmond College, Galle)
- Wanuja Sahan (St. Peter’s College, Colombo)
- Treveen Mathews (St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota)
- Yasiru Rodrigo (S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia)
- Matheesha Pathirana (Trinity College, Kandy)
- Lahiru Abeysinghe (St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota)
- Abhishek Liyanarachchi (D.S. Senanayake College)
- Ranuda Somaratne (Trinity College, Kandy)
- Anjala Bandara (St Anthony’s College, Kandy)
- Sakuna Liyanage (Lumbini College)
U19 Asia Cup 2021 schedule
Dec 23 – India U19 vs United Arab Emirates U19
Group A at ICC Academy Ground, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 23 – Afghanistan U19 vs Pakistan U19
Group A at ICC Academy Ground No 2, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 23 – Bangladesh U19 vs Nepal U19
Group B at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
11:00 IST
Dec 24 – Sri Lanka U19 vs Kuwait U19
Group B at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
11:00 IST
Dec 25 – India U19 vs Pakistan U19
Group A at ICC Academy Ground No 2, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 25 – Afghanistan U19 vs United Arab Emirates U19
Group A at ICC Academy Ground, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 25 – Bangladesh U19 vs Kuwait U19
Group B at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
11:00 IST
Dec 26 – Sri Lanka U19 vs Nepal U19
Group B at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
11:00 IST
Dec 27 – India U19 vs Afghanistan U19
Group A at ICC Academy Ground No 2, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 27 – Pakistan U19 vs United Arab Emirates U19
Group A at ICC Academy Ground, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 28 – Bangladesh U19 vs Sri Lanka U19
Group B at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
11:00 IST
Dec 28 – Nepal U19 vs Kuwait U19
Group B at ICC Academy Ground No 2, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 30 – 1st Semi Final
At ICC Academy Ground, Dubai
11:00 IST
Dec 30 – 2nd Semi Final
At Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
11:00 IST
Dec 31 – Final
At Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
11:00 IST
