Zim to face depleted Sri Lanka
HAMPERED by injuries, fitness failures and the Covid-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka will face Zimbabwe with several uncapped players in the first One-Day International of their three-match series on Sunday.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) selection committee yesterday announced the squad for the three ODIs to be played this Sunday, Tuesday and ursday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
Sri Lanka will miss ace spinner Wanindu Hasaranga due to a hamstring tear, which he sustained during the Lanka Premier League (LPL), while batter Kusal Janith Perera too will be absent due to an injury.
ree players — star-batman Avishka Fernando, Janith Liyanage, and Kamil Mishara — have been ruled out from the series after being infected with Covid-19, while pacer Lahiru Kumara and Kalana Perera were removed from the squad as they had failed to fulfill the newly upgraded “fitness standards”.
Dhananjaya De Silva, named vicecaptain of the initial team, is on paternity leave and will miss the three ODIS.
In place of these established players, the selectors have called in former captain Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Pradeep, Shiran Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, and Kusal Mendis, who was recently freed from a one-year ban imposed over the breach of bio-bubble protocols in England last July.
With ICC Cricket World Cup Super League points on the line, Zimbabwe will be hoping to capitalise on the high number of new faces in the Sri Lanka side by causing an upset in the three match series.
e last time the two teams met in a bilateral ODI series, Zimbabwe came back from being down 1-2 to famously win the five-match ODI series in Hambantota four years ago.
Captained by experienced campaigner Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe’s touring party includes the uncapped duo of opening batter Takudzwanashe Kaitano and former Zimbabwe Under-19 wicketkeeper batsman Clive Madande who have been rewarded for their form on the domestic scene.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kaitano, whose only previous appearance for Zimbabwe came in a Test match against Bangladesh in Harare in July, will be seeking to make an impact in white ball cricket after impressing in the domestic Pro 50 Championship.
All-rounder Tino Mutombodzi, who last played for Zimbabwe during their tour of Bangladesh in March last year will also be eager to make a good impact on his return to the national side.
Zimbabwe will, however, be without head coach Lalchand Raput for the first two matches after he tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), PathumNissanka, Minod Bhanuka, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh eekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan ushara, Ramesh Mendis, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Chamika Gunasekera, Nuwan Pradeep, Shiran Fernando and Kamindu Mendis.
Zimbabwe: Craig Ervine (captain), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba and Sean Williams.