SL vs NZ: Oshada Fernando returns as Sri Lanka squad for New Zealand Tests gets announced

Sri Lanka have announced their squad for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand beginning on September 18. In a big development, Oshada Fernando has earned a recall in the Test squad after 18 months.

Oshada Fernando has replaced Nishan Madushka in the squad, who had a poor Test series against England and was subsequently dropped from the third Test of the series. Pathum Nissanka opened in his place and smashed a match-winning hundred in the second innings.

Oshada Fernando last played a Test match against New Zealand in March 2023 but was dropped after a poor run of form. In 21 matches, Oshada Fernando has scored 1091 runs and averages 33.06 with 1 hundred and 7 fifties.

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Oshada Fernando returns as Sri Lanka announce 16-member squad for Test series vs New Zealand

Apart from Nishan Madushka, Kasun Rajitha, and Nisala Tharaka are the two players who are missing from the squad that toured England for the three-match Test series. Dhananjaya de Silva is the captain of the team with several veteran players like Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Dinesh Chandimal also in the squad.

Meanwhile, Milan Rathnayake keeps his place in the squad after an impressive showing in England. The fast bowling department consists of Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, and Milan Rathnayake, although, only two of them are likely to play given the conditions.

Balanced squad for Sri Lanka

As expected, Sri Lanka have stacked their squad with plenty of spinners. Left-ar, spinner Prabath Jayasuriya will lead the spin bowling department with offspinner Ramesh Mendis and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay also there. Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis can also bowl some good overs of spin.

Sri Lanka will have high hopes from the opener Pathum Nissanka who scored a sensational ton in the third Test match against England at The Oval. Chasing 219 to win, Sri Lanka completed the target comprehensively with 8 wickets in hand. As a result, the visitors avoided a clean sweep and the series ended 2-1 in England's favor.

Nissanka smashed 127 off just 124 balls and stayed unbeaten till the end. With this knock, he has established his position as an opener in all the formats of Sri Lanka's team. Both the Tests of this series will be played at Galle.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's preparations for the series took a big hit as their one-off Test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida was called off due to excessive rain. After the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand will travel to India for a three-match Test series.

Sri Lanka squad for Tests against New Zealand

Dhananjaya De Silva (C), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Oshada Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake