Sri Lanka is all set to take on Afganistan in the upcoming ODI series, which is set to start on February 9 and commence on February 14.
One of the major drawbacks of the Sri Lanka Odi setup was that their regular skipper Dasun Shanka has been dropped from the ODI setup, while experienced all-rounder Angelo Mathews has also been dropped from the ODIs.
Shanaka, who was the skipper of the Sri Lankan ODI team in the previous year’s World Cup, was later out of the World Cup due to injury. Later on, he was given a chance to play in both the T20 and ODI series against Zimbabwe. Despite showing some promising performances in the domestic tournament with bat and ball,.
Shanka failed to impress and had a poor run with both bat and ball in the series against Zimbabwe, resulting in his being dropped from the ODIs against Afghanistan.
Sri Lanka squad for the ODI series against Afghanistan:
Kusal Mendis (c), Charith Asalanka (vc), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan, Sahan Arachchige, Akila Dananjaya, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, and Shevon Daniel
On the other hand, in Afghanistan’s squad for the series against Sri Lanka, Rashid Khan will once again be out of action due to his injury, while Gulabdin Naib earned his spot back in the ODI squad.
Apart from Naib, seamer Naveed Zadran also got his maiden call-up for the ODIs after he impressed everyone with his bowling in test matches.
Afganistan Squad For The Three-Match Series Against Sri Lanka.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah (vice-captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Qais Ahmad, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad
Reserves: Sharafuddin Ashraf, Shahidullah, Abdul Rahman, and Bilal Sami
All three matches of the ODI series are set to be played at Pallekele Stadium.
