Colombo, June 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) Veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews has been left out while young pacer Matheesha Pathirana has been included in Sri Lanka's 15-man squad for their Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, set to be held in Zimbabwe from June 18-July 9, said Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Friday.
Mathews, the former skipper, scored 12 runs from 21 balls as Sri Lanka lost to Afghanistan by six wickets in the first of the recently-concluded three-match series at Hambantota. He was subsequently dropped from the next two matches, which were won by the hosts.
Pathirana took 19 wickets in the recent season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), helping Chennai Super Kings to win their fifth title. The 20-year-old, whose slingy action resembles pace bowling great Lasith Malinga, made his ODI debut earlier this month against Afghanistan.
Apart from him, 29-year-old Dushan Hemantha, who also entered the ODI arena against Afghanistan, has been included in the squad for the qualifiers. Sri Lanka, the 1996 World Cup winners, are in Group B alongside the UAE, Oman, Ireland and Scotland.
They will play their first match of the tournament against the UAE on June 19. From the 10-team qualifying competition, the finalists will clinch the remaining two spots for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, to be played in India in October-November.
The top three from each group will progress to the Super Six stage where each team will play three matches against the sides they did not meet in the group stage. All points won in the groups will be carried over to the Super Six stage, apart from those gained against the bottom two from each group, following which the finalists will be decided and secure their ticket to the ODI World Cup in India.
Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dushan Hemantha.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz