Sri Lanka Announces Squad for Pakistan Tests with New Faces and Captain

Sri Lanka has picked fast bowler Eshan Malinga and wicketkeeper Anjala Bandara for the upcoming two-Test tour of Pakistan in November. Left-arm fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka is also back in the team. Bandara takes the place of Niroshan Dickwella, who played the home Tests against India in August but misses out this time. Kusal Mendis is back to lead the team as the new Test captain after Dhananjaya de Silva stepped down from the role.

Squad Changes

Malinga moves up to the Test squad after playing 19 first-class matches and taking forty-four wickets at an average of thirty-one point one five. The twenty-two-year-old Bandara earned his spot with a strong first-class record, averaging sixty-five point eight five across 31 games with seven fifties and seven hundreds, including a top score of two hundred not out. Openers Lahiru Udara and Kamil Mishara, along with all-rounder Sahan Arachchige, have been dropped. Dinesh Chandimal returns after missing time due to a concussion in Galle. Pathum Nissanka is selected on the condition that he passes a fitness test, just like in the recent ODI squad.

Spin and Pace

The spin attack features Prabath Jayasuriya, Keshara Nuwantha, and all-rounder Sonal Dinusha. The fast bowling lineup includes Milan Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Malinga, and Madushanka. Vishwa Fernando has been left out of the squad.

Context

These matches in Rawalpindi from November nine to thirteen and Lahore from November seventeen to twenty-one are part of the World Test Championship. Sri Lanka currently sits in seventh place on the points table, while Pakistan is at the bottom.