Chandimal, Tharanga miss World Cup bus

COLOMBO, April 18 

Former Sri Lanka captains Dinesh Chandimal and Upul Tharanga were left out of the 15-man squad announced today for the World Cup in England and Wales, while spin-bowling all-rounders Milinda Siriwardana and Jeevan Mendis were recalled. 

Chandimal was Sri Lanka’s ODI captain as recently as October, while Tharanga led the side in 2017. Tharanga’s fellow opener Danushka Gunathilaka also failed to make the cut, while Lahiru Thirimanne, who last played in the format at the end of 2017, was drafted in. “We have an issue with the opening batsmen. This is the reason why we went for experienced openers. We need that experience in England,” chief selector Ashantha de Mel said. 

Jeffrey Vandersay was picked over mystery spinner Akila Daananjaya as the only specialist spin bowler with Sri Lanka’s selectors rewarding the leg-spinner’s strong performances in a recent domestic 50-overs tournament. Regular wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella was also dropped. 

The 1996 champions on Wednesday appointed Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne as the skipper for the May 30-July 14 World Cup despite the left-handed batsman not playing an ODI since the 2015 tournament. Karunaratne’s leadership in Sri Lanka’s spectacular Test series win in South Africa tilted the scales in his favour. Pace bowler Lasith Malinga, who led the side in a 5-0 ODI series thrashing at the hands of South Africa recently, kept his place alongside the paceman Nuwan Pradeep. — Reuters

SRI LANKA SQUAD 

Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhanajaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana