Sri Lankan selectors have picked a 16-member squad for the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan, The Sunday Times reports.
Veteran batters Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews have been recalled to the ODI squad in order to strengthen the batting lineup which has been struggling to bat out the full quote of 50 overs consistently.
The wicket-keeper batter Kusal Janith Perera is yet to recover from a hamstring injury but is set to be fit in time for the Qualifiers. Dushmantha Chameera has recovered fully and makes a return to spearhead the seam attack.
Wanindu Hasaranaga who suffered an injury during the ongoing Indian Premier League, has been added to the squad as the 16th man as he is expected to recover from the injury and feature in one or two games during the series.
Sadeera Samarawickrama who last played an ODI game for Sri Lanka 4 years ago, has returned to the squad while the 20-year-old speedster Matheesha Pathirana who is making the headlines in the ongoing Indian Premier League with some impressive spells has also made the cut.
Nuwanidu Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Ashen Bandara, Dilshan Madushanka and Avishka Fernando, who were all part of the India ODIs earlier this year have been left out.
Sri Lanka Squad: Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Kusal Mendis (Vice-Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya De Silva, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha
Afghanistan Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (Captain), Rahmat Shah (Vice-Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhail (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujib ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Abdul Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Farid Ahmad Malik
