New Delhi: After a humiliating Test and ODI series against Team India, Sri Lanka are all geared to get the last one right when they take on Virat Kohli's army in the one-off T20I encounter at Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Sri Lanka Cricket board announced their team for the one-off battle as all-rounder Dasun Shanaka and leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay mark a return back to the squad.
Upul Tharanga remains the captain for the Islanders despite his poor performance with the bat and leading his side to a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series. "There is no reason to give up captaincy. The next selectors' committee will decide how we will move forward. We didn't play well. And in the last two years we have not played well. So, only this set of players can come out of this phase. But we need to plan better and we need to identify what are the areas we can improve on," said Tharanga. In fact, he will lead the hosts for the first time in the shortest format of the game after Angelo Mathews resigned from the role in July.
Fans would, of course, want to see their home side win at least one match in the series. Team India had registered a historic 3-0 clean sweep, as they became the first Indian side to record an overseas victory in a series of three or four matches. In the ODI, Sri Lanka resolved to their dismal cricketing performance as the Men in Blue became the first visiting side to whitewash the beleaguered home team. And now with new names in, the team would hope to get a tick in that last final box on the list. In fact, they had defeated South Africa and Australia in an away encounter earlier this year.
Sri Lanka squad: Upul Tharanga (captain), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilshan Munaweera, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Wanidu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Isuru Udana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal and Vikum Sanjaya.
