SL vs ZIM: Kusal Mendis Named Captain As Sri Lanka Preliminary Squad For Zimbabwe ODIs Announced

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Saturday (30th December) announced the preliminary squad for the upcoming home ODI series against Zimbabwe. Keeper-batter Kusal Mendis has been named as the new captain of the team in the 50-over format.

Sri Lanka will be locking horns with Zimbabwe in the three-match series. The first game will begin from the 6th followed by the second and third games to be played on the 8th and 11th January respectively. All three games will be played at RPICS in Colombo.

Apart from naming Kusal Mendis as the captain, Sri Lanka Cricket has also named Charith Asalanka as the vice-captain of the team. Wanindu Hasaranga will be making his comeback to the team after a long injury lay-off, which saw him missing the Asia Cup 2023 and the ICC World Cup 2023 as well.

Apart from Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera will be making a comeback too following the injury he faced in the World Cup. Sri Lanka also has recalled Avishka Fernando into the team for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe.

Mystery spinner Akila Dananjaya too has been included in the team. But what has caught the attention of many is all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva has been dropped. He didn’t have a great outing in the last few games including World Cup and Asia Cup. His poor form with bat and ball might be the reason why he didn’t make the cut into the team.

Sri Lanka Cricket also has included some fresh faces in the team in Sahan Arachchige, Janith Liyanage, Chamika Gunasekera, and Kamindu Mendis. The series will begin a new chapter for the Lankan Lions under the team captain, who took over the reins from Dasun Shanaka.

Sri Lanka of late have struggled a lot to get going in the ODIs. They reached the final of the Asia Cup 2023 but after that, nothing went their way. They had a torrid outing in the final as they were bundled out for below 55 runs.

It was expected that they would make a strong comeback in the World Cup. But it was a torrid outing for them in the tournament. They were amongst the teams to be eliminated early from the tournament. Sri Lanka suffered 7 defeats in the event and won just two games.

Following that, a lot has happened in Sri Lanka Cricket. They were banned by the ICC as well and there were a lot of political things going on as well. The upcoming series will be an opportunity for them to rejuvenate themselves and get back on track after a poor last few months on and off the field.

SL vs ZIM: Sri Lanka Announce Preliminary Squad For ODI Series Against Zimbabwe

Here’s Sri Lanka’s Preliminary Squad For The Three-Match ODI Series Against Zimbabwe

Kusal Mendis (c), Charith Asalanka (vc), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sahan Arachchige, Nuwanidu Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Asitha Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Gunasekera.