Sri Lanka Playing 11 vs Australia - 2nd Test, Australia tour of Sri Lanka 2025

Sri Lanka will be desperate to bounce back when they take on Australia in the second and final Test of the ongoing series. The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday (February 6) at the Galle International Stadium.

The Islanders suffered a humiliating innings defeat in the first Test. They were thoroughly outplayed by Australia as they suffered their heaviest Test defeat of all time. Australia defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 242 runs to take an unassailable lead in the series.

A couple of years ago, Sri Lanka had found themselves in a similar position. On that occasion, Australia had won the first Test of the two-match series by 10 wickets before Sri Lanka registered an innings victory in the second game to draw level.

Sri Lanka will be taking confidence from that performance as they look to get back to winning ways. And as the home side prepares for the upcoming Test, we are taking a look at the Sri Lanka Playing 11 for the second SL vs AUS Test.

Sri Lanka Playing 11 vs Australia - 2nd Test, Australia tour of Sri Lanka 2025:

Openers: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka

Sri Lanka could have a new opening pair for the upcoming second Test. Pathum Nissanka is likely to return to the Sri Lanka Playing 11 after missing the first Test due to a groin injury. The right-handed batsman sustained the injury during the third T20I against New Zealand last month.

He will be replacing Oshada Fernando in the Sri Lanka Playing 11 for the second Test. Fernando had the chance to impress the team-management but he failed to grab the opportunity. He scored only 7 runs in the first innings before scoring 6 in the following innings.

While Fernando is expected to be dropped from the Sri Lanka Playing 11, Dimuth Karunaratne is expected to retain his spot despite his failures in the first Test. The senior opener scored 7 runs in the first innings before being dismissed for a duck in the second innings. He will be eyeing a better show in the upcoming Test.

Middle-order batsmen and allrounders: Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk)

Dinesh Chandimal was the pick of the Sri Lanka batsmen in the first Test and the hosts would be hoping that their former captain does well with the bat in the second Test as well. In the first innings, he was Sri Lanka's top run-scorer. While no other Sri Lankan batter could even reach the 25-run mark, he scored 72 runs.

Even in the second innings, he got the start and scored 31 runs but failed to convert it into a big score. Angelo Mathews scored 7 runs in the first innings before scoring 41 in the second. Sri Lanka would be hoping that the veteran allrounder impresses with the bat in the second Test.

The trio of Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kusal Mendis got the starts in both the innings of the first Test but none of them managed to convert it into a big score. Kamindu scored 15 and 32 while captain Dhananjaya scored 22 and 39. On the other hand, Kusal was out for 21 and 34.

Bowlers: Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando

Even though Sri Lanka's bowlers failed to impress in the first innings, they are likely to retain their spots in the Sri Lanka Playing 11 for the second Test. Prabath Jayasuriya and Jeffrey Vandersay picked up 3 wickets each in the first Test and will be eyeing a better show in the second Test.

Asitha Fernando and Nishan Peiris could not take any wickets in the series opener and will be desperate to turn things around in the second Test.