The final leg of the Asia 7s series will commence this weekend at the Racecourse International Stadium. The Sri Lanka Tuskers squad for the tournament was named last evening.
Former Captain Sudarshana Muthuthantri is back in the squad which will no doubt be a boost for the team. As expected, Dhanushka Ranjan will retain the captaincy despite Muthuthanthri’s presence. Muthuthantri is a versatile player and his experience was missed in the 1st and 2nd legs which he was forced to sit out after suffering a wrist facture at the Monaco 7s earlier this year. In form Jason Dissanayake and Kevin Dixon are also back in the team after missing out on the second leg in South Korea with injuries.
Speaking on the captaincy, Muthuthanthri had this to say, “I am more than happy to play under Ranjan and he was outstanding taking this team without some senior players in the first two legs, he has proven his leadership and never surrendering attitude.”
Hirantha Perera, Sashan Mohamed and Saliya Handapangoda are the players who have been left out from the squad that travelled to South Korea for the 2nd leg. Handapangoda, the Navy SC winger, performed exceptionally well in the two legs, following up from his performance in the Sri Lanka Super 7s. He scored a few tries for the Tuskers in the previous two legs and but unfortunately his try saving tackle on Hong Kong’s Tom McQueen two weeks ago resulted in a hamstring injury.
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Sri Lanka team manager Rohan Chinthaka stated to ThePapare.com “We missed out on the title in the first leg in Hong Kong and things went wrong in the South Korea final, but this squad is now well balanced and I hope the boys will do well in front of the home crowd.”
The Squad:
Danushka Ranjan (Captain), Srinath Sooriyabandara, Richard Dharmapala, Dulaj Perera, Danush Dayan, Kanchana Ramanayake, Kavindu Perera, Jason Dissanayake, Kevin Dixon, Sudharshana Muthuthanthri, Omalka Gunaratne, Tarinda Ratwatte
