Thisara Perera (left) will captain Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 series against Pakistan
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera will captain the national team during the upcoming Twenty20 series against Pakistan.
The move comes after several players, including regular skipper Upul Tharanga, were dropped from the squad after they refused to travel to Lahore, which will host the third and final Twenty20 International.
In addition to Tharanga, the national selectors confirmed that Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Chamara Kapugedara, Akila Dananjaya and Suranga Lakmal had all been removed from the squad.
Lakmal and Kapugedara were part of Sri Lanka’s last tour to Pakistan in March 2009, where the team bus was attacked by militants.
Head coach Nic Pothas and physiotherapist Nirmalan Thanabalasingham have also refused to go to Lahore, but since Sri Lanka are only playing one game in the city, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have opted not to name a replacement for Pothas. However, it is understood that another physiotherapist will make the trip to Pakistan.
Given that a host of regular faces won’t feature in the Twenty20 series, Danushka Gunathilaka, who recently completed serving a three-match ban, Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made his Test and ODI debut in the ongoing series, and uncapped wicketkeeper Minod Bhanuka are just some of the players that have been drafted into the new-look side.
As for Thisara, he was in Pakistan just last month as he was part of the World XI that played three Twenty20 Internationals in Lahore.
The 28-year-old enjoyed a lot of success during the series as he scored 96 runs at an average of 48 and finished as the highest wicket-taker with six victims at an average of 18.50.
Sri Lanka’s T20 Squad: Thisara Perera (capt), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chaturanga de Silva