More spinners have been added to the squad for the assignment, given the change in conditions from the UK. Sri Lanka are heading into the series on a high, having denied England a clean sweep after securing an 8-wicket victory in the third and final Test of the series at the Oval.
Sri Lanka have announced their 16-man squad for the two-Test home series against New Zealand, starting on Wednesday (September 18). Top order batsman Oshada Fernando has returned to the Test side for the first time since March 2023, having played against the same opposition. The 32-year-old has replaced Nishan Madushka in the squad.
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🚨 Sri Lanka have announced their squad for the Tests
Oshada Fernando has been named after more than a year since his last appearance in red-ball cricket 🔁 pic.twitter.com/Tj5Q5byBKc
More spinners have been added to the squad for the assignment, given the change in conditions from the UK. Sri Lanka are heading into the series on a high, having secured a comprehensive 8-wicket victory against England in the third and final Test of the series at the Oval last time out. Meanwhile, England pocketed the series 2-1.
Fernando, who made his international debut back in February 2019 in a Test series against South Africa, has represented Sri Lanka in 21 red ball matches. The right-handed batsman has scored more than thousand runs in the longest format of the game, including a highest score of 102.
New Zealand were slated to play a one-off Test against Afghanistan in India last week, but the match was abandoned without a ball being balled because of rain. New Zealand played their last Test series back against Australia in February-March, losing both the matches on home soil.
Sri Lanka are currently fifth on the World Test Championship 2023-25 standings, with a PCT of 42.86, while New Zealand are sitting at the third position with a PCT of 50.00. India and Australia are occupying the first and second positions respectively. The top two teams at the end of the cycle will play the final at Lords on June 2025.
Sri Lanka squad for New Zealand Test series: Dhananjaya De Silva (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Oshada Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake
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