Thirimanne, Shanaka to lead Sri Lanka in Pakistan

Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan 2019 September 11, 2019

Lahiru Thirimanne and Dasun Shanaka have named Sri Lanka's ODI and T20I captains respectively for the limited-overs tour of Pakistan.

The announcement comes two days after Dimuth Karunaratne and Lasith Malinga, the incumbents, informed the Sri Lanka Cricket of their unwillingness to tour Pakistan, along with eight others, citing security concerns.

Minod Banuka, the 24-year old wicketkeeper-batsman, is the only uncapped member in the 15-man ODI squad. Banuka along with Bhanuka Rajapaksa are the two uncapped names in the T20I squad. Banuka has been part of Sri Lanka's Emerging squad while Rajapaksa was on Sri Lanka A's tour of India in June.

Danushka Gunathilaka, who was dropped for the home ODIs against Bangladesh along with left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan have also been included in both squads.

Thanks in part to the withdrawals, batsman Oshada Fernando also finds himself back in the ODI squad, following an encouraging start to his career in South Africa earlier this year. He's been picked for the T20s as well.

The attacks will ostensibly be led by Nuwan Pradeep, as well as left-armer Isuru Udana, who is missing the Caribbean Premier League to be available for this tour. Younger quicks Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha are also in both squads.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan are scheduled to play three ODIs in Karachi on September 27, 29 and October 3 before they move to Lahore for the T20I leg that concludes on October 9.

By hosting the limited-overs series first, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hoped to convince Sri Lanka Cricket that the nation was secure enough to host Test cricket, starting with the teams' World Test Championship matches, presently scheduled for December.

ODI squad: Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka, Angelo Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

T20I squad: Dasun Shanaka (capt), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Angelo Perera, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Madushanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

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