Kusal Perera to lead Sri Lanka ODI team against Bangladesh

Sri Lanka announced 18 member ODI squad for the three-match ODI series beginning on May 23. The Sri Lanka squad led by the new skipper Kusal Perera is scheduled to leave on May 16. Perera replaced Dimuth Karunaratne as the new ODI captain for the Island nation.

The new captain Kusal Perera featured in 101 ODI matches scoring 2825 runs at an average of 31.04 powered by a healthy strike rate of 92.59. He has 5 ODI centuries and 14 half centuries to his name.

Karunaratne had taken over the ODI captaincy just before the 2019 World Cup where he led Sri Lanka to a sixth place finish. He did win a couple of home series against Bangladesh and West Indies, but faced 2-0 and 3-0 series defeats in Pakistan and West Indies respectively.

The squad has big names missing like Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne in it. It features some new names like Chamika Karunaratne and Shiran Fernando who earned their maiden limited-overs call up. Binura Fernando, who has played a couple of T20Is, makes a return to the side.

Limited overs specialists Isuru Udana and Dhananjaya de Silva also make a comeback after the duo were not picked for the West Indies tour. Dhananjaya de Silva missed out on West Indies series after injury concerns.

Sri Lanka ODI squad:

Kusal Perera (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Dasun Shanaka, Ashen Bandara, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Niroshan Dickwella, Dushmantha Chameera, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando

All the 3 ODIs will be played in Dhaka on May 23rd, 25th and 28th. Sri Lanka is ranked No.9 in the ICC ODI rankings while Bangladesh is at No.7.